Under-18 TikTok users to be limited to one hour - until they change settings

Teenagers joining TikTok will be limited to an hour of use each day, the social media company has announced - but only for as long as it takes them to realise they can change the settings manually.

New default screen time restrictions will be enabled for every account known to belong to someone under 18, the company says. After the first hour's use each day, the app will warn them their time is up, "so it's easier to log off".

But parents praying for an intervention - or young people struggling with their own compulsive behaviour - might find the relief is shortlived, since the restriction can be altered or removed altogether in the app's settings. If the user removes the limit and then goes on to use the app for more than 100 minutes a day, it will prompt them to set a new restriction, which TikTok says will at least require them to make an active decision on their continued usage.

Parents wanting restrictions that cannot be overridden can make use of the app's "family pairing" features, allowing them to link their own TikTok account to their child's. These have been updated to allow a more rigorous restriction to be set. With a family pairing account, parents can set a custom screen-time limit for their children that cannot be overridden. They can also set a custom schedule to mute notifications, ensuring their children are not disturbed late at night.

"While there's no collectively endorsed position on how much screen time is 'too much', or even the impact of screen time more broadly, we recognise that teens typically require extra support as they start to explore the online world independently," said Cormac Keenan, the company's head of trust and safety. "Research also shows that being more aware of how we spend our time can help us be more intentional about the decisions we make, and this is especially important but typically more difficult for younger audiences."

Social networks have a strong motivation to offer their own screen-time controls, in case people decide to activate the stricter controls built into both the iOS and Android smartphone platforms.

New requirements introduced in 2021 require technology companies to be more aware of how their services are used by children. On Wednesday, the first formal complaint against a major tech company was levied under these rules, with a father-of-three alleging that YouTube was improperly harvesting data from under-13s.