Video-sharing platform TikTok is introducing a 60-minute daily screen time limit for users under 18.
Teenagers will still be able to access the app for longer than an hour, but will need to enter a passcode when the 60-minute limit is reached.
The platform said that this will require them to “make an active decision” to extend their time on the app.
According to the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), two-thirds of American teenagers use TikTok, with the average viewer across ages spending 80 minutes a day on the platform.
The organisation warns that many parents are unclear about how the application works or its "potential dangers", including showing content which relates to suicide, self-harm, and disordered eating.
Teenagers can also opt out of the hour default, with the business prompting those that do to set a daily screen time if they spend over 100 minutes on TiKTok a day.
According to company's head of trust and safety, Cormac Keenan, while there is no collective position on the “right amount of screen time” or the impact of screen time more broadly, TikTok has consulted current academic research and experts from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital.
The move follows a prompt TikTok rolled out last year to encourage teens to enable screen time management.
It said that tests found this approach helped increase the use of its screen time tools by 234 per cent.
In addition, TikTok plans to send every teen account a weekly inbox notification with a recap of their screen time.
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