By India McCarty
TikTok will roll out a new AI-powered feature in Europe intended to find and deactivate accounts made by kids under the age of 13.
“At TikTok, we’re committed to keeping children under the age of 13 off our platform, providing teens with age-appropriate experiences, and continuing to assess and implement a range of solutions,” a press release from TikTok announced. “We believe that a multi-layered approach to age assurance — one in which multiple techniques are used — is essential to protecting teens and upholding safety-by-design principles.”
The app will use “facial age estimation” and “credit card authorization” to ensure users are over the age of 13, as well as require them to provide “government-approved identification.”
“For teens who have passed our age checks, we are committed to ensuring that they have an age-appropriate experience,” the press release continued. “That’s why on TikTok, teen accounts have more than 50 preset safety, privacy and security features and settings automatically turned on.”
TikTok continued, “We take our responsibility to protect our community, and teens in particular, incredibly seriously. It is the most important work we do, and we will continue to innovate to keep our community safe.”
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There is no word yet on whether or not TikTok plans to roll this feature out in America.
This is the latest move in the online space to attempt to curb young people’s use of social media. Some measures are stricter than others; for example, last year, Australia enacted the first-ever social media ban for children under the age of 16.
“We stared down everybody who said it couldn’t be done, some of the most powerful and rich companies in the world and their supporters,” communications minister Anika Wells told reporters earlier this month. “Now Australian parents can be confident that their kids can have their childhoods back.”
According to the Australian government, 4.7 million accounts belonging to children have already been shut down.
The UK is considering similar measures; the House of Lords just voted to support a social media ban for those under 16.
Former Tory schools minister Lord Nash, one of the sponsors of the ban, called children’s social media use a “societal catastrophe,” pointing to “overwhelming” evidence of the damage caused to young people.
“What are we waiting for?” Nash asked. “We know our children are being harmed.”
TikTok is still in the beginning phases of rolling this new feature out, but it is a step in the right direction as countries around the world are sounding the alarm on the dangers of social media for young people.
Read Next: Australia Might Restrict Kids’ Access to Social Media — Here’s Why
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