TikTok rolling out maturity ratings, content filters for videos

SAN FRANCISCO: Short-video platform TikTok, facing a controversy in the US for sharing users' date with the Chinese government, on Wednesday introduced 'Content Levels' feature to help further safeguard the viewing experience.

In the coming weeks, the platform will introduce an early version to help prevent content with overtly mature themes from reaching audiences between ages 13-17.

A maturity score will be allocated to the concerned video to help prevent those under 18 from viewing it across the TikTok experience, the company said in a statement.

To further empower viewers with ways to customize their viewing experience, "we're rolling out a tool people can use to automatically filter out videos with words or hashtags they don't want to see," said Cormac Keenan, Head of Trust and Safety.

"As a result of our tests and iteration in the US, we've improved the viewing experience so viewers now see fewer videos about these topics at a time, he added.

Meanwhile, top US Senators have called on Lina Khan, Chairperson of Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to investigate short-video making app TikTok over its alleged data sharing practices with China-based workers.

In a letter sent to Khan last week, Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), Senate Intelligence Committee leaders, said that individuals in the People's Republic of China (PRC) have been accessing data on US users.