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How to set up TikTok Family Pairing | Parent Zone

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Setting up parental supervision for your teen in a few easy steps.

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A Guide to ISP Parental Controls & Online Safety

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A technical guide to UK ISP parental controls and age-assurance settings. Learn how to manage safety filters and configure secure browsing for families.

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Five things to consider when buying your child their first mobile phone - BBC Bitesize

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Whether they’re starting secondary school, or at primary school - at some point parents will almost inevitably have to consider buying their child a mobile phone. Here are some tips and expert advice on what to consider.

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Parental control tools allow parents to protect their children's privacy and online safety according to various parameters. They can select which games children are allowed to play (based on the PEGI age ratings), limit and monitor their online spending, control access to internet browsing and online interaction (chat), and set the amount of time children can spend playing games.

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Parental control tools allow parents to protect their children's privacy and online safety according to various parameters. They can select which games children are allowed to play (based on the PEGI age ratings), limit and monitor their online spending, control access to internet browsing and online interaction (chat), and set the amount of time children can spend playing games.

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Helping you to make better choices about what you see and share online.

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Content warning: This section includes graphic sexual descriptions.

A nude image must include one of the following to be removed:

nude or semi-nude sexual posing

someone nude or semi-nude touching themselves in a sexual way

any sexual activity involving a child

someone hurting someone else sexually

sexual activity that includes animals.

Where possible, it is better if you can upload the original image or video, or a copy of it, rather than a photograph of it on another screen. This helps IWF find the image more accurately.

If you want to report something that isn't a nude image or video to see if it can be taken down, you can see more information from Childline about deleting things shared online here. You can make a report to CEOP, the part of the police who are there to support children and young people online. You can always speak to a Childline counsellor.

Confirming your age with ID gives us more legal powers to remove images from as many places as possible. If you don't have ID or feel comfortable using it, we can still take down images, but from fewer places.

You can use the following ID to confirm your identity using Yoti:

passport or biometric residence permit

driving licence and provisional licence

Young Scot Card (Yoti app only)

CitizenCard (Yoti app only).

If you don't have any of these, you can get a young person's ID card. You'll be able to get this for £5 with the promo code NSPCC5. Make sure you choose 'Yoti CitizenCard' on the first page.

Whatever ID you use, please make sure that it is valid and in-date.

IWF will read all reports within one working day, from Monday to Friday. The time it takes to get your image removed from the internet can be different depending on where the image is hosted.

If the image is on a UK-based website it can often be removed within 2-3 hours. Unfortunately, in some countries it can take longer - sometimes days or weeks. But IWF analysts will always try to make sure it happens as soon as possible.

We'll do our best to let you know once your image has been removed by sending a message to your  Childline locker.

We recommend you check your locker every few days after you make a report. This is so you can see if your image has been removed, and so Childline can let you know if IWF need more information to be able to remove it. Remember, IWF can't contact you directly.

If you need support to help you cope while you're waiting, you can also speak to a Childline counsellor any time.

When you use Report Remove, your image or video is shared with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). They'll work to get your image removed from the internet. See 'Who are the IWF?' to learn about how that happens.

Most of the time, nobody will know that you've made a report and your report won't be shared with anyone else.

If the police already have the image or video you report, then they might investigate what's happened. Only the police can decide if they'll need to tell someone else.

The police might already have your image or video if:

someone has reported it on another website and that website passed it to the police

they're investigating someone who had or has the image or video already (if someone is found to have your image and is breaking the law - regardless of how, it may be included as evidence in a criminal case against that person

someone else reported the image to them directly.

Remember that the police are there to protect you, not to get you into trouble. If the image has been reported somewhere else and you're worried, you can always  speak to a Childline counsellor.

If you have parental controls on your phone your parent or carer might see when you want to download a new app, so they might get a notification if you try to download Yoti and want to know why. To avoid this, use the second option to prove your age (called 'ID verification').

The IWF can remove images that are public or available to anyone on the internet. However, they won't be able to remove images or videos on encrypted networks like WhatsApp, or which are saved on a person's phone or computer.

If you're over 13 and you've made a report without using ID, then there may be some sites the IWF can't take images down from.

If you don't use ID the IWF can help by removing your image or video from most sites. If you do use ID, the IWF can remove from all sites

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a UK charity, are there to help remove illegal nude images of under 18s posted online.

Once the IWF has confirmed your nude image is against the law and can be removed from the internet they give it a digital fingerprint called a 'hash'. The hash can be used to find your image online even if it has been cropped or slightly changed.

Sharing just the hash with certain trusted companies and organisations, means that technology can be used to find online matches of the image - this is key to trying to stop it appearing in different places on the internet. Even though the hashes and images are shared with UK police, this is so that if they came across the image some other way, they'd know that you also reported it yourself. Report Remove was developed with the full support of the police and no one involved wants to get you into trouble for sharing the image so it can be removed.

Different companies use the hash in different ways. For example, if an illegal image match is found to have been shared by an online account holder, a company may decide to close that person's account as posting illegal images will be against the company's terms and conditions. If your image(s) are found on or are linked to your online user account(s) it may be possible for the company to associate your profile with the images.

The companies that take the hashes trust the Report Remove process, however if they have significant concerns that the person in the image may not be the person who was age verified, they may get in touch with the IWF to raise their concerns.

There are 3 organisations that help you report your image using Report Remove. These are Childline, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and also Yoti if you are 13 or older and choose to prove your age using ID. All of them have a responsibility to keep all of your personal information safe.

1. We'll ask you to choose your age range (under 13, 13-15, 16-17, 18 and over). If you're under 13, you'll go straight to step 3. If you're aged 13 or older, us at Childline will ask you if you have access to ID to prove your age. If you do, you'll be asked to visit Yoti. The only information we will share with Yoti is that you are wanting to prove your age to use Report Remove.

2. Once you prove your age using Yoti, you will come back to Report Remove on Childline. The only information Yoti will share with Childline is confirmation that you're younger or older than 18.

3. We'll then ask you to create or sign in to a Childline account. Then you'll go to the IWF website to share the content you want removed. Childline will only share the information below with IWF:

that you're younger than 18 (either confirmed by Yoti, or that you told us you are younger than 18),

the age range you selected at the start,

a unique number that is created when you use Report Remove.

4. After your report has been passed to the IWF, they will tell Childline if they were able to work to take the images or video down from the internet, and why. This is so Childline can let you know what happened. IWF may also tell Childline some information about what you reported, to help them know how best to support you and keep you safe. IWF will never share an image or video that you report with Childline.

Information you give to Childline
Any information you give Childline will always be treated carefully and in line with our  Privacy Policy. This means that any information you give us as part of Report Remove will only be used to help the IWF review your report and to keep you safe. This will include the age range that you select and a unique number that's created when you go onto the IWF website. We will not share any of your information with Yoti.
Information you give to IWF
The only information you will give to the IWF are the images, videos or URLs you report. There is space to add information such as where the image or video is on a webpage.

They will process this in line with their privacy policy.

Nude images and videos that IWF decide are illegal may be kept by the IWF for up to 2 years. This is because there is an agreement with the Police and CPS (Crime Prosecution Service), called a 'Memorandum of Understanding' (MOU). Illegal images are given a hash (a string of numbers that are like a digital fingerprint). The hash is shared with organisations such as technology companies who host online content, so that they can look for the image and take it down. The actual image is not shared with these companies. The image and the hash are shared with the police who store it on their Child Abuse Image Database. Any images or videos that they decide are not illegal may be kept for a maximum of 6 months for quality checking and any follow up questions. They will then be deleted. Sometimes, even if it's decided that the content isn't illegal, IWF can share the content URL with some industry members to see if they can take the content down.

If you report a URL (link to a webpage), and choose not to prove your age using ID, IWF will still check to see if the content is something they can take action on. If so IWF may share the URL with South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL), who are a charity who help people who have had intimate images of them shared online. SWGfL will never view the content on a URL that is shared with them. SWGfL send a notice to internet companies that host the webpage you reported, to tell them to take it down. This is because IWF can only send a notice to companies to take a specific webpage down when it is confirmed it is of a child. SWGfL can also send notice to take down content, but they do not need to prove it is of a child. This helps get your images or videos from even more places.

Childline will never see what pictures, videos or URLs you share with the IWF. The only information the IWF shares with Childline apart from your case number is whether or not they could take down your images or videos, and why, so we can let you know, as well as information about the image or video that you reported that will help Childline to support you and keep you safe.

Information you give to Yoti
You can choose to use Yoti to confirm your age if you're over 13. This may involve taking a selfie, so Yoti know it is you who are proving your age, and uploading a picture of some ID. Any personal data you send Yoti - like your photo, date of birth or address - is scrambled with a high level of encryption so that even if it was stolen, no one could use it to identify you. The only information Yoti shares with Childline is confirmation that you're under or over 18.

You can see Yoti's privacy policy here, and more information about their age portal here, which is what is used in Report Remove to prove your age.

If you're using the Yoti app, Yoti may use the selfie, month and year of birth you add to the Yoti app to improve its age estimation technology. You can opt out from this in the More> My Data> Biometric consent menu of the app.

There are lots of ways to get help with your report:

if you're having problems with Yoti, you can contact them directly in the app.

if you need any support with making your report send a message to Childline with the title 'Report Remove'.

Childline counsellors are always here for you and want to help. And you can  talk to them  about anything you're going through.
I have a technical issue, what should I do?

Try using your default browser and close private browsing if you're using the Yoti app.

See if you can log in to your locker and send an email to Childline explaining your problem and the team will be able to help.

Make sure the ID you're using is valid and in-date (not expired).

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Use Report Remove to remove a nude image shared online

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Are you worried your child has too much screen time? Find out the potential effects it could have on your child with tips and advice to manage limit screen time.

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Read this first!

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If your child only needs a phone for emergencies, keep it simple with a non-smartphone (also known as a dumb phone). They're significantly cheaper and with their long battery life, you won't need to charge it every night.

However, if your child needs to access the internet, apps or games, a smartphone is a better choice. While more expensive than the simpler mobile phones, they're far more capable of accessing information your child might need.

If you choose to buy a smartphone, it's worth considering insurance to protect it from theft, loss and damage.

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Mobile phones for kids 2023 | Internet Matters

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Mobile phones for kids | Internet Matters. A guide on what models should you consider for your child? Best phones for kids. Phone for kids

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Have a go with your children - good discussion points.

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Quiz for 7-11s - UK Safer Internet Centre

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Online Safety Tips, Advice and Resources

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Online safety for families and children with SEND

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Online safety for families and children with SEND

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Thinkuknow. Parent and carers guide to sharing images (Primary)

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Parents and Carers - UK Safer Internet Centre

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Tips, advice, guides and resources to help keep your child safe online

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We won't stop until every child is safe online.

The COVID-19 pandemic means children are online more than ever. In the first year of the pandemic, our helpline saw a 45% increase in contacts from people worried about online sexual abuse.

"An increase in screen time has also resulted in a significant upward trend in online abuse."
Ofcom, December 2020

Together we can make sure it's safe for every child to go online. We're here to support parents with online safety advice, and we're here for children - to protect them and help them recover from abuse.
Help us protect children online Worried about something?

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We won't stop until every child is safe online. The COVID-19 pandemic means children are online more than ever. In the first year of the pandemic, our helpline saw a 45% increase in contacts from people worried about online sexual abuse. "An increase in screen time has also resulted in a significant upward trend in online abuse."

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Parents - help kids make the most of their lives online

Find out all about device safety for your child and help them to have positive experiences online. Whether they're getting a device for the first time, starting out on social media or making the leap to secondary school, we've got advice for you.

We collect information on how quizzes are used so we can make them even better. Find out more

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Parents - help kids make the most of their lives online

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Find out all about device safety for your child and help them to have positive experiences online. Whether they're getting a device for the first time, starting out on social media or making the leap to secondary school, we've got advice for you.

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Set up parental controls on devices and platforms | Internet Matters

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Set up parental controls on a range of devices and platforms to help children develop key online safety and digital literacy skills.

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Look in Settings - Screen Time on iPhones to set basic controls

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Look in Settings - Screen Time on iPhones to set basic controls

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Online Safety Quiz for you and your children!

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Online Safety Quiz for you and your children!

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Does your child know how to stay safe online? Test their knowledge with this online quiz.

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A problem hiding in plain sight

A new report into how children are spending, making and losing money online
Read more

Technology moves fast. We have tools and advice to help keep up.
Read more

Every family needs support sometimes. Here's how we do it.
Read more

Explore our range of products and resources.

Read more

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Parent Zone is a parenting organisation working to make the online world a safer, more positive place for families and children. Explore the ways Parent Zone can help your family, school or organisation understand online safety.

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CEOP (Child Exploitation Online Protection)

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CEOP (Child Exploitation Online Protection)

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Access information and resources for parents and carers on keeping your child safer online including conversation starters and video guides.

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iPhone parental controls, managed through Screen Time, allow parents to limit app usage, restrict content, and set communication limits. These settings can be accessed through Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions. Parents can also set downtime to block access to apps during certain times, and manage iTunes & App Store purchases.

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Apple iPhone and iPad parental control guide

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Learn how to manage your parental control settings and restrictions on an Apple iPhone and iPad with our step-by-step how-to guides.

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Family Sharing lets up to six family members share Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, iCloud storage and more. All without sharing accounts.

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Excellent collection of resources kept up to date

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This page is for parents - if you are a teacher, click here

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Hello and welcome!

We know that you, as caregivers, want to help your teens learn about digital safety so they can manage their online presence, both now and as they grow into adulthood.

This Guardian's Guide is designed to provide an overview of TikTok and the many tools and controls we've built into the product to keep our community safe. The guide also provides general information on common internet safety concerns.

Reviewing this guide, our Youth Portal, and our Community Guidelines with your teen can help your family establish ongoing dialogue about safety in our digital world. Hosting candid family conversations about the ways in which your teen engages online, including and beyond TikTok, will help bolster their sense of digital citizenship and empower them to be mindful of their own safety on the internet.

Getting started

Creating a TikTok account

TikTok can be downloaded from the App Store, Google Play Store, Amazon Appstore, and other official application platforms. TikTok has a 12+ rating in the Apple App Store and is listed as "Parental Guidance Recommended" in Google's Play Store. If you don't want your teen to download TikTok, these ratings mean you can prevent them from doing so using the parental controls available via these stores or platforms.

To sign up for TikTok, people must provide their date of birth. If someone creates their account using another platform, they will also be asked to provide their birth date to us directly. If someone tries to create an account but does not meet our minimum age requirement, we suspend their ability to attempt to create another account using a different date of birth.

In the US, we offer a curated, view-only experience for those under age 13 that includes additional safeguards and privacy protections. We partner with Common Sense Networks to help make sure content is both age-appropriate and safe for an audience under 13.

Underage appeals on TikTok

If we believe someone under 13 - or 14 in South Korea and Indonesia - is using TikTok, we'll ban their account and they may appeal if they think we have made a mistake. If you're the parent, guardian, or other trusted adult of a teen whose account we ban, they may ask you to help them submit an appeal.

If your teen decides to appeal their ban, we'll give them some options for confirming their date of birth. To submit an appeal, your teen must open TikTok, tap "Appeal" and follow the instructions provided. In certain countries, one of the options they may choose will require them to upload a photo of themselves with their parent, guardian, or other trusted adult who confirms their date of birth. Learn more

Why it's important your teen provides their real date of birth

TikTok is only for those aged at least 13 - or 14 in South Korea and Indonesia - and it's important that your teen provides their real date of birth. From restricting access to certain features to tailoring the ads people can see, accurate information helps ensure community members have the correct age-appropriate experience. For example, in addition to our age requirement, we do not allow younger people on TikTok to use age-restricted features such as the ability to host LIVE or use Direct Messaging.

Privacy

When you use TikTok, we process your information to support your use and functionality of the platform. We also use such information to keep you and others safe. You can read our Privacy Policy to understand what information we collect about you and how we use and look after it. We are committed to respecting and protecting your privacy, and you can learn more about our privacy practices and your choices here.

Community Guidelines

Offering a safe and supportive environment is our top priority. We believe that feeling safe is essential to helping people feel comfortable with expressing themselves openly and creatively. We remove content, including video, audio, livestream, images, comments and text that violate our Community Guidelines, and accounts involved in severe or repeated violations. Under certain circumstances, we will go one step further and report the accounts to relevant legal authorities to keep our community safe. Our Community Guidelines apply to everyone, and to everything shared on TikTok.

Family Pairing

Parenting a teen's digital life can be daunting, which is why we offer caregivers meaningful ways to set guardrails with their teens on TikTok.

Our Family Pairing features let parents link their TikTok account to their teen's to enable a variety of content, privacy, and well-being settings. We encourage caregivers to discuss the Family Pairing features with their teens, and explain why they choose to turn them on. Even without Family Pairing enabled, parents can help their teens enable our app's Screen Time offerings, including Daily Screen Time and Restricted Mode, which are protected by a passcode set by the parent or guardian. These settings may vary depending on your region and version of the app.

Privacy by default

Digital well-being

Safety and privacy tools

We invest in tools and resources to help parents, guardians, and families support their teens online. Learn more about settings you can enable to manage your family's TikTok experience, including controls like filtering comments, blocking accounts, setting screen time limits, and disabling video downloads. View tools

Online safety: 5 tips from teens

At TikTok, we are committed to working in partnership with parents and caregivers as you support your teen's digital journey. Parents tell us it can feel overwhelming to keep up with evolving trends and new platforms, so we want to help simplify things by offering parents insight on the support teens really value from trusted adults-and who better to advise on what they need than teens themselves!

This is what they told us:

"Help me understand the rules" Teens don't expect trusted adults to be experts on every platform, but they value support to set up their accounts. This includes help with checking and understanding privacy and safety settings. They also told us parents shouldn't be afraid to set boundaries; teens expect and even welcome them! Safety tools like TikTok's Family Pairing features allow families to set parameters, which are especially important while teens are starting out online.

"Be available to chat" Teens want trusted adults to be interested in their digital life and to recognize how important it is to them. Teens feel supported when they know they have an ally that is available to talk to them. Don't be afraid to initiate a conversation. They appreciate hearing you understand things can go wrong online and you'll be there to help if they do-no matter how big or small the problem.

"Don't panic when things go wrong" Your teen has come to you for help-fantastic! They may be feeling vulnerable, scared, embarrassed, or upset, so let them know how happy you are that they've reached out. When they share their problem, be mindful of your reaction; teens told us being met with anger means they will avoid asking for help again. Equally, teens don't want adults to minimise their worries-even if it's hard to understand why it's causing so much angst. Listen without recriminations, ask questions, and focus on solutions. If they've broken rules, teens expect there to be consequences, but they also want help to understand what to do differently to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

"Trust me" Teens get that trust has to be earned, and they expect adult oversight-especially for younger teens. Just as in the "real" world, teens feel greater autonomy is appropriate as they get older. Every family is different and the pace at which a teen moves toward independent use of technology will vary, but if your teen knows how to navigate platforms safely and they come to you when things go wrong, that's a great foundation for trust

"Respect my privacy" Striking a balance between a teenager's expectation of privacy and ensuring they are safe is one of the trickiest aspects of parenting-on and offline. It can be tough when a teen tells you they'd rather you didn't follow them on a platform. It's natural to worry they're up to mischief, when really it's likely they just want some space to hang out with friends without being monitored. There may be good reasons why you feel following your teen's account is necessary. If so, teens say they want to understand your reasons and to explore ways to build trust. Older teens told us they feel protective of younger siblings and cousins and naturally look out for them online, so consider whether there's someone else who your teen might be happy to have follow them in your place.

Resources

To learn best practices for personal privacy, account security, and how to be a good digital citizen, visit our Youth Portal. Below you'll find additional resource materials from our Safety Partners:

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Resources for parents, guardians, and caregivers to help you understand TikTok's tools and controls we've built into the product to keep our community safe.

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Phones give young people a way to keep in touch with their friends and families, look up information and enjoy games and social media.

Phones can send and receive calls and messages, browse the internet and take photos and videos. There are also a huge amount of apps that can be downloaded that allow the user to do many different things such as watch videos, connect with friends, make video calls, play games, get news updates, and much more.

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Phones give young people a way to keep in touch with their friends and families, look up information and enjoy games and social media. Phones can send and receive calls and messages, browse the internet and take photos and videos.

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What is WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is one of the most popular instant messaging apps, used by over 2 billion people in 180 countries. It allows you to send and receive messages, as well as make voice and video calls. You can connect with people individually or join group chats where lots of people can contribute. All you need to set up a WhatsApp account is a phone number.
What age rating is WhatsApp?
The app is rated 16+.
Features of WhatsApp
To connect you with others, WhatsApp checks your phone's address book for other users and automatically suggests these as your WhatsApp contacts. It also updates your WhatsApp contact list whenever your phone contacts sign up to the app. This is an optional feature, and you can switch it off, but this puts limits on the app's functionality.

When you are using WhatsApp, certain information is shared with your contacts:

Status - this allows you to share updates on your profile in the form of text, photo, video, or GIF that disappears after 24 hours.

Last seen - this tells your contacts what time you last used the app.

Online - this tells your contacts if you are currently using the app.

Read receipts - this allows users to see if the message has been sent, delivered, and read.

Through the privacy settings in the app, you can help your child control who can see this information.

The new 'Communities' feature allows users to connect multiple groups together under one umbrella to organise group conversations on WhatsApp, meaning that thousands of users can join a community. A WhatsApp community, unlike a group, is a collection of related groups under one roof.

WhatsApp makes use of certain features that are focused on the privacy of its users. Some of these key features are:

End-to-end encryption - this means that only people within the chat can read or listen to what is being sent. WhatsApp cannot view these messages, and they cannot be remotely accessed by police or government, and they can't be seen by hackers. This means that the message privacy is more secure, but also means they can't be monitored for illegal activity.

Disappearing messages - this is an optional feature that allows you to set messages to disappear 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days after sending. This setting can be applied to all chats or selected ones. It is important to remember that messages can still be saved, screenshotted, or forwarded before they disappear.

View once - this feature allows you to send photos and videos that disappear from your chat once they've been opened. The image or video that you send cannot be saved, shared, or forwarded and you can see when it has been opened (if you have read receipts turned on). The image or video expires after 14 days if it is not opened.

Live location - this allows you to share your real-time location for a certain amount of time with other users in an individual chat or group. You can stop sharing at any time but the people you shared it with will still be able to see your last updated location.

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Explore our WhatsApp guide to ensure privacy settings are being used.

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Setting Up Your Account for Privacy & Safety | Discord

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Get tips on how to set up and manage your account for privacy and safety.

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Designed and Developed by Will Earp and Matt Rosser, SWGfL (https://swgfl.org.uk/)

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Swiggle.org.uk - Child Friendly Search Engine for Kids

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Swiggle is a friendly search engine for kids aimed at Key Stage 2. With educational search results, Swiggle is fun and simple for children to use when learning to search the internet. There are also tools and information on how to stay safe online.

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If you've found out your child has shared a revealing pic or video, don't panic. There are plenty of ways to stop things getting out of hand.

Watch these short films for advice on what to do next:

Understanding why

It's important to keep things in perspective and plan how to talk to your child. Remember, however stressed and anxious you are feeling, they are probably feeling more so. Watch this film to find out how one parent coped.

Talking to your child

It's a good idea to have ongoing conversations with your child about sex and relationships including nude selfies. It might be a bit embarrassing at first but this film suggests some ways to start it off.

When should I be worried?

Young people share nude selfies for different reasons and in different ways, and some situations are more risky than others. This film will help you to understand the different contexts in which images are shared and how to respond.

Where to get help

Find out about organisations which can help you and your child.

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If you've found out your child has shared a revealing pic or video, don't panic. There are plenty of ways to stop things getting out of hand. Watch these short films for advice on what to do next: It's important to keep things in perspective and plan how to talk to your child.

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In your Google Search results, SafeSearch can help you manage explicit content at work, with children, or for yourself. Explicit results include content like:

Nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material

Violence and gore

Learn more about Google Search's content policies.

Important: SafeSearch only works on Google Search results. It won't affect explicit content you find on other search engines or websites you visit directly.

Manage SafeSearch

If you have your own Google Account, you can manage SafeSearch for your personal account or browser.

Tip: To manage your SafeSearch setting, at the top right of Google Search results, click Quick Settings .

Learn how SafeSearch works

On Google Search, SafeSearch can detect explicit content like adult content and graphic violence.

To block any detected explicit content, select Filter. This is the default setting when Google's systems indicate that you may be under 18.

To blur explicit images, select Blur. This is the default setting if the above doesn't apply. This setting helps blur explicit images, but explicit text and links may show if they are relevant for your search.

If SafeSearch is "Off," you'll find relevant results for your search, even if they're explicit.

If you can't change your SafeSearch setting, it's because it's controlled by your account, device, or network administrator. For example:

For child and student accounts, parents and schools can lock SafeSearch in Filter.

Public Wi-Fi networks, like at an airport or library, can also lock SafeSearch in Filter.

Parental controls on your operating system and antivirus software may override your individual SafeSearch setting.

Who can change your SafeSearch setting

Manage SafeSearch settings for others

Change your child's SafeSearch setting in the Family Link app

Lock SafeSearch setting for devices & networks you manage

Fix issues with SafeSearch

If SafeSearch isn't working, learn how to fix issues with SafeSearch.

Report explicit content

If you have SafeSearch filtering turned on and you find explicit content, you can report the content.

Related resources

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Filter or blur explicit results with SafeSearch

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In your Google Search results, SafeSearch can help you manage explicit content at work, with children, or for yourself. Explicit results include content like: Nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually

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Tik Tok seems at first sight an innocent sort of thing: an app loved by children and young people, designed for making and sharing short, funny videos.

Yet it has become highly controversial. has already banned it. Other countries, including the and , claim to be considering a ban. In the UK, TikTok is under investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for allegedly mishandling children's data.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, currently in Britain for talks with British politicians, has said people should only use TikTok - or let their children use it - if they're happy for their data to be collected by the Chinese state. Members of the US army and navy have been forbidden to use it.

So should parents in the UK be concerned? The short answer is yes - although it remains to be seen whether the bad smell that hangs around TikTok is mainly to do with its past.

The company claims that it does want to protect children's data. But it has flouted the law in several countries. In May this year, the Dutch announced they were launching a probe into whether the company sufficiently protects children's data under both national law and EU-backed GDPR.

Recently, though, the company has made some moves to mitigate accusations of bad faith, with efforts to restrict use by children aged under 13 from signing up and the introduction of a form of parental controls.

So should we give TikTok the benefit of the doubt?

Collecting children's data without permission

In 2019, TikTok was fined a record $5.7million by the US Federal Trade Commission for flouting US law by collecting data on children under 13 without their parents' permission.

To be fair, the fine related to TikTok's previous incarnation as Musical.ly (also a Chinese-owned app), before the two companies merged and TikTok effectively took over.

More worryingly, perhaps, as recently as this month South Korean authorities fined TikTok £123,000 for illegally collecting data on children under the age of 14 without their parents' permission.

Direct messaging

The Telegraph reported earlier this month that adults grooming children on TikTok through private messages were not being removed from the platform. Instead, they were banned for a week for the first offence, a month for the second, and removed only after a third.

The report, based on whistleblowing former TikTok moderators, claimed that around one-in-10 direct messages flagged for review involved adults inappropriately messaging children. (TikTok replied to these allegations that the flagging process was to allow its child protection teams in China and Dublin to investigate properly.)

It is not clear, however, when the whistleblowers were working on the site. At the end of April this year TikTok stopped under-16s from being able to receive direct messages.

Nevertheless, the Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety has called for TikTok to be banned from the UK until it can prove it is safe for children.

It's Chinese

TikTok has become caught up in the war of words between China and the UK and US. Where you stand on whether it's unsafe will depend partly on whether you think the undoubted human rights abuses in China (of Uighurs and democracy activists in Hong Kong) extend to everything that China touches. And whether TikTok is, as it claims, separate from the Chinese state.

Erring on the side of caution, there are several issues to be concerned about:

Data collection (again)

TikTok maintains that data on its users is held in Singapore, the US and elsewhere around the world, but not in China. It insists it is not an arm of the Chinese state. But there are legitimate reasons to think that if China wanted access to the data, ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, might find it very hard to resist.

This may seem a remote concern to UK parents now - but if in a decade's time your child happened to become, say, a democracy activist, they might not want the Chinese state to know everything about them.

Censorship

Documents leaked to the Guardian last year showed that TikTok had censored political statements, including videos that mention Tiananmen Square or Tibetan independence. The company claims the instructions revealed in these documents have since been withdrawn. But fears remain that an app with its roots in a system that controls flows of information will censor dissent where it finds it politically uncomfortable.

For You page

TikTok's For You page is a curated feed of videos. Users need never click away from it. The algorithm that determines this, like curation algorithms on other platforms, is a closely guarded secret.

Curation on social media sites has been blamed for many things, including the rise of anti-vaxxers and the current fragility of democracy. It's not only Chinese companies that channel or restrict information. But there are fears that TikTok's curation allows anything that is politically inconvenient simply to disappear.

What is TikTok doing to show its concern about children's privacy?

In February last year, TikTok introduced Family Safety Mode, which allowed parents to link their children's accounts with their own. This gives parents the ability to control screen time; to block adult content; and to see their children's direct messages. In January this year, it tightened the privacy controls on accounts for those aged under 16, making them private by default and blocking the downloading of videos.

This is all a move in the right direction - although, as ever, you could argue that putting all the responsibility on parents absolves the company itself.

Clear as mud?

Making sense of TikTok is made harder by the fact that it has got caught up in a geopolitical war of words which seeks to portray China as invariably a bad actor.

In the recent past, TikTok has unquestionably fallen foul of the law over its handling of children's data.

It remains to be seen whether more cases will come to light, but we look forward to the Dutch report. And to the report of the ICO investigation, which has now taken a year. We also hope to see legislation brought forward, based on the government's White Paper on digital harms, which would impose a duty of care of children on social media companies.

There is more of this story to come. TikTok may be sincere in its stated wish to adhere to accepted standards of child protection. But parents in the UK will feel they still need quite a lot of reassurance.
Image: READ MORE The conversation: TikTok bans TikTok: everything you need to know about the video production app TikTok update bans under-16s from private messaging kovop58/stock.adobe.com

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Tik Tok seems at first sight an innocent sort of thing: an app loved by children and young people, designed for making and sharing short, funny videos. Yet it has become highly controversial. has already banned it. Other countries, including the and , claim to be considering a ban.

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OurPact's mission is to help you keep your kids safe online. This cross-platform app not only puts you in control of how much time your kids can spend online, but just as importantly, what type of content and apps they can utilize.

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OurPact - Parental Control App & Family Locator for iPhone and Android.

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#1 parental control app for iOS & Android. OurPact is the only parental control app that limits screen time and tracks locations.

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With so many social networks to keep track of, it's not surprising if your kid's obsession with the TikTok app leaves you scratching your head. So what is it exactly?

TikTok is a free social media app that lets you watch, create, and share videos -- often to a soundtrack of the top hits in music -- right from your phone. With more than 100 million users in the United States alone, TikTok has innovative video-editing features, viral dances, and celebrity cameos that make it incredibly popular. And though the app has generated controversy, it can be a fun, creative outlet for tweens and teens (and parents!) when used safely and responsibly.

While much of TikTok is harmless fun, there are real concerns about kids using the app. As with any social network, you have to use privacy settings to limit how much information you and your kids are sharing. Because you can post videos immediately without first reviewing or editing them, kids can upload impulsively. And other issues have dogged the app: reports of online predators using the app to target younger users; an FTC suit for violating children's privacy law; and serious software glitches -- including one that could have allowed the company to collect user data.

Read Common Sense Media's full review of TikTok, and help your kids use it safely with answers to parents' most frequently asked questions below.

What is TikTok?

TikTok (originally called musical.ly) is a social network for sharing user-generated videos, mostly of people lip-synching to popular songs. Users can create and upload their own videos where they lip-synch, sing, dance, or just talk. You can also browse and interact with other users' content, which covers a wide range of topics, songs, and styles. These videos can be grouped by hashtags, which often correspond to challenges, memes, or current events (i.e., #pandemiclife)

How safe is TikTok?

Using any social network can be risky, but it's possible for kids to safely use the app with adult supervision (and a private account). TikTok has different rules for different ages:

Users under 13 can't post videos or comment, and content is curated for a younger audience.

For kids age 13 to 15, accounts are private by default; only friends can comment on videos, and other users can't duet (explained below) with your videos.

Only users 16 and over can livestream and use direct messaging, and only users over 18 can buy, send, or receive virtual gifts.

TikTok also offers some tools for parents to limit how much time kids spend on the app and what kids can see. Parents can also use Restricted Mode to reduce mature content or Family Safety Mode to pair their account with their kid's to control settings completely.

How does TikTok work?

Tik Tok users sign up with a phone number, an email address, or a third-party account such as Facebook and Instagram. Once logged in, you can search popular creators, categories (comedy, animals, sports), and hashtags to find videos. Or you can use your phone contacts or social media followers to find friends already on the app. Many kids on Tik Tok like to create videos, but plenty of people don't post themselves -- they just use the app to find and follow content creators.

Is TikTok appropriate for kids?

If you supervise your kids, use safety settings, and stick to songs you already know, TikTok can be a kid-friendly experience. But TikTok's emphasis on popular music means many videos include swearing and sexual lyrics, so it may not be age-appropriate for kids to use on their own. Even with limits, it's easy to find people wearing revealing clothing and dancing suggestively, although TikTok won't let you search for objectionable content such as "porn." As with social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat, TikTok has a commercial element that encourages kids to buy stuff. Users can also earn TikTok Reward points by inviting friends to download the app, and then they can redeem those points for coupons from brands like Sephora and Uber. You'll find plenty of other marketing and purchasing opportunities.

What age is TikTok recommended for?

Common Sense recommends the app for age 15+ mainly due to the privacy issues and mature content. TikTok requires that users be at least 13 years old to use the full TikTok experience, although there is a way for younger kids to access the app. Anyone under the age of 18 must have approval of a parent or guardian -- but there are plenty of young tween users.

Can kids under 13 use TikTok?

If your younger kid or tween wants to use the app, there's a section of the app for kids under 13 that includes additional safety and privacy features. Kids can only see curated, clean videos, and aren't allowed to comment, search, or post their own videos. However, the lack of these features makes it unappealing for most kids, and bypassing that section only requires entering a false birthdate, so it's not perfect. The section is only available in the United States. It was introduced in 2019, after TikTok settled with the Federal Trade Commission for child privacy violations from TikTok's predecessor, Musical.ly.

How can you make your TikTok account private?

To make your TikTok account private, go to your profile page and select the three-dot icon in the top-right corner. On the "Settings and privacy" page, tap Privacy. That takes you to the Discoverability page. Toggle the switch for Private Account. On this page, you can also control other safety and privacy features, such as who can send you comments and direct messages, and who can do a duet with you. Using the Friends setting or turning those features off completely limits contact with strangers.

How do I delete a TikTok video?

To delete a TikTok video that you have posted to your account, select the video you want to delete from your profile. From there, tap the "..." icon in the bottom-right corner and select Delete (it has a trash can icon). You will be asked whether you are sure you want to delete the video. Then it will be removed from your profile.

How can I delete a TikTok account?

Deleting a TikTok account takes a few steps. First, go to your profile, then select the "..." icon in the top-right corner. Select Manage Account. TikTok requires you to verify that the account you want to delete belongs to you, so you may need to log in to a third party such as Google or add the phone number you used to register. Once you've verified the account, you'll get a code to plug in that allows you to delete your account.

How can I use TikTok with my kids?

You can provide a buffer between kids and iffy content by watching with your kids and making videos together. Offer to hold the camera or turn it around to do a selfie duet. You can post it or save it as "private" so only you can see. The app also lets you share videos by email, text, or other social media where you can better control who sees it, so kids can perform for friends and relatives instead of a wider network of people.

How do you do a duet on TikTok?

TikTok has a feature that allows two users who aren't in the same place to perform a duet. Both users must follow each other on the app to make it work. One user creates and posts a video, and then a mutual follower can tap the "..." icon at the bottom right of the video and select "start duet now!" The second user can then lip-synch along with the first person, either swapping back and forth or in a split screen.

What are TikTok Challenges?

Challenges are any idea that goes viral. They can be songs, activities, or dances that start trending and then get copied by users on the platform. Sometimes they're spontaneous, but sometimes they're planned out by brands, musical artists, or influencers for marketing purposes. Most popular challenges, such as the intricately choreographed dance number Renegade and pranks such as the backwards hoodie fridge mixup are harmless. But some, such as the skull-breaker, are really dangerous. Learn more about viral internet challenges and how to talk to your kid about them.

Does TikTok have parental controls?

TikTok offers a few ways for parents to manage kids' accounts. You can either enable time limits and the content filter on your kid's phone and protect the settings with a passcode, or you can download TikTok, create your own account, and use the Family Pairing feature to manage your kid's TikTok settings using your phone. (If you choose Family Pairing, you'll need your kid's phone to sync the settings.)

Here's how to enable screen limits and filter content on your kid's phone: Go to your kid's account and tap the three dots at the top right of the user profile. Then select "Digital Wellbeing" next to the icon of an umbrella. From there, select the features you want to enable:

Screen Time Management. This setting limits users to a maximum of two hours on the app per day, but you can limit it to 40 minutes. If you're only enabling this on your kid's phone, choose a passcode to lock the setting.

Restricted Mode. This blocks mature content, but even with the filter on, kids using the app on their own might come across age-inappropriate videos. Lock the setting with a passcode.

To set up Family Pairing so you can manage the above settings, plus safety and privacy, first download TikTok onto your phone and create an account. Then, make sure you have your kid's phone and their TikTok login handy.

Family Pairing. On both phones,tap the three dots next to the user profile; tap Family Pairing and sync your account to your kid's via the QR code.

Keep in mind kids can always re-download TikTok and create a new account using a different phone number or email address, so any controls you enable aren't foolproof.

How can I monitor my kid's activity on TikTok?

Other than Restricted Mode, there's no way to filter out content on TikTok, so parents are encouraged to share an account with kids over 13. This will let you keep an eye on what your kid is viewing and posting. Parents of older kids who are more resistant to monitoring can ask about their favorite video creators and get to know their videos (with or without your kid). Also, take the time to regularly look at the most popular songs, videos, memes, and challenges.

What if my kid wants to get famous on TikTok?

While the safest way to use TikTok is with a private account, the social nature of the app and the rapid success of some of its stars -- including Charli D'Amelio, a dancer whose TikTok fame led to a TV deal -- might have your kids begging to go public. There's huge enticement to get famous, including TikTok houses where groups of young creators live and make videos -- and reap big-money endorsements and sponsorships. Kids viewing this example might be persuaded to do or share things they wouldn't normally do to get a larger audience. They may also become obsessed with likes and virtual approval, which isn't healthy for their emotional well-being. Parents can manage this by encouraging and modeling safe behavior, and putting limits on the type of information kids share.

Should I be concerned about TikTok's security?

Many people and organizations-including the U.S. government and companies like Wells Fargo-are worried that TikTok's parent company ByteDance (based in China) is using the app to spy on users in other countries. Investigations of TikTok found that the app's privacy policy and data collection practices aren't actually any worse than other social media apps, and that the concerns about spying are probably overblown. (However, the company does surveil users of the app in China.)

That said, TikTok doesn't necessarily have a perfect record when it comes to privacy and security. For example, they only recently fixed a bug that allowed the app to access users' clipboards (where things you copy and paste are stored) every three seconds, even when they weren't using the app. They also illegally stored minors' data.

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With so many social networks to keep track of, it's not surprising if your kid's obsession with the TikTok app leaves you scratching your head. So what is it exactly? TikTok is a free social media app that lets you watch, create, and share videos -- often to a soundtrack of the top hits in music -- right from your phone.

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Find put what they're doing and how that gaming site works!

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A link to a Padlet with lots of games to help your children understand how to use the internet safely

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A link to a Padlet with lots of games to help your children understand how to use the internet safely

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Video for younger children to discuss webcams