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SINGAPORE - The issue of protecting young users of social media apps against potentially harmful content has been thrown into the spotlight as TikTok faces intense scrutiny in the United States over concerns about data privacy and online harm.

Most social media platforms in Singapore are designed for users aged 13 years and above, but none has foolproof measures to stop underage users from lying about their age when they register for accounts. Most platforms do not have measures to verify a users age beyond simply asking for a declaration.

A 2021 survey in Singapore of parents of children between seven and 16 years old by Milieu Insight found that half of their children used Instagram and Facebook.

It also found that 36 per cent of the children used TikTok, which has an estimated two million users in Singapore.

Such surveys show that many children are using the app despite being under the age of 13. Between the first and third quarter of 2022, some 60 million suspected underage accounts were removed by TikTok, it said.

The chief executive of TikTok, Singaporean Chew Shou Zi, was grilled in the United States Congress on March 23 as lawmakers sought to ban the short-form video app which has amassed at least 150 million users in the US and more than one billion users globally.

In Congress, US lawmakers questioned the platforms content moderation policies and showed a collection of TikTok videos that appeared to glorify suicide and self-harm. Mr Chew said TikTok takes a serious view on such content, and later added that his children do not use the app.

The Straits Times outlines the checks in place on the app and other social media platforms, and the controls available to parents to protect young users.

In the version of TikTok available in Singapore, users under 13 are barred from creating an account. However, the app does not require users to prove their age.

TikTok said in March that it works to remove underage accounts that are either identified or flagged to the company via its online form.

The app also has family-friendly settings that allow parents to fine-tune their teens experience on the platform.

The teen must first accept his parents request to be supervised on the app, which will give the adult the power to limit the teens time spent watching videos.

A parent can also make certain subjects off-limits to a young user by deciding what content, users and hashtags the teen can search for.

Users need to be at least 16 years old before they can create Duet or Stitch content videos posted that are combined with another TikTokers video. To live-stream, users have to be above 18.

Those under 18 also have a 60-minute daily screen time limit, and a weekly recap of their usage is also sent to them.

These limits can be imposed only if the user agrees to be supervised.

Original post:
Amid TikTok scrutiny, how effective are parental curbs on social ... - The Straits Times