Certain TikTok videos are blocked from viewing with a splash screen proclaiming that the post is age-protected, in an attempt to prevent the platform’s young audience from being exposed to content deemed unfit for their age. The feature essentially categorizes content similarly to how movies and video games are rated depending on the level of mature content they contain. The idea is to sort out videos based on how suitable they are for young users, particularly those in the 13-17 years age group. Instagram has a similar system that lets users adjust the content sensitivity level that appears in their feed.
If TikTok determines that a video’s content is too graphic or mature for the user based on their age, users will see a black screen with a warning message that says ‘Post unavailable’ and ‘This post is age protected’ underneath. TikTok hasn’t shared exact technical details as to how it deems certain content unfit for children, but the system reportedly follows the same pattern as industry-standard PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 rating systems for video games and films. The content blocking will be turned on automatically for users in the 13-17 years age group — and for those users, it can’t be disabled. The restriction is applicable for videos appearing in the main feed as well as those shared in DMs.
Age Restriction Can’t Be Disabled On TikTok
If a user is in the 13-17 age group, there’s no way to turn off the feature. However, for older users who are seeing the message in error, the only workaround is to change their birthday on their account. Doing this is far from simple, and involves contacting TikTok support and providing a valid government ID. TikTok says its content categorization system will assess videos to see if they contain “mature or complex themes, for example, fictional scenes that may be too frightening or intense for younger audiences.”
Based on the magnitude of sensitive themes in a video, a maturity score is assigned to it, and that ultimately dictates whether it should be restricted or allowed to be viewed by users under 18 years of age. The latest TikTok change builds upon a similar safety feature it enabled in December 2020, which blurred a sensitive video and put it behind a prompt that asked users if they really want to go ahead and watch it.
Restricted Mode On TikTok
The social media giant has added other safety-centric upgrades that can be applied or removed at any time for TikTok users who are over 18, too. Restricted Mode, which can be turned on or off in the user’s settings, limits exposure to “videos that may be inappropriate to some users.” To enable this feature, users need to go to ‘Settings and privacy’ > ‘Content preferences.’ They’ll be required to set and confirm a four-digit passcode to turn on the feature, which they’ll need in the future if they want to turn it off. This can only be done from the TikTok mobile app.
TikTok also offers a filter system that will automatically block videos with specified hashtags or words from appearing in users’ recommendation feed. This can be found in the same section of the settings, and a user can add up to 100 keywords or hashtags to exclude from their feed. Aside from weeding out problematic videos, it also takes out the drudgery of watching videos that are no longer of any interest to TikTok users.
