TikTok raises minimum age for live streaming on platform from 16 to 18 years

On Monday, TikTok announced that it is raising the age limit for hosting livestreams on the platform and is also launching adult-only livestreams. The changes will be implemented starting November 23, and the users will have to be 18 years old or above to go live on the platform. Currently, the users have to be 16 or above to host a live stream.

Meanwhile, the adult-only livestreams will reportedly be rolled out in the upcoming weeks as the date has not been specified by the platform. Previously the company had begun testing to restrict its livestreams to viewers who are 18 years and above.

The reports have also noted that the “adult-only” restriction will not allow users to broadcast adult content and the platform will still operate in line with their guidelines which prohibit “nudity, pornography, or sexually explicit content.”

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The company in a blog post indicated, “We plan to introduce a new way for creators to choose if they’d prefer to only reach an adult audience in their LIVE.” It added, “For instance, perhaps a comedy routine is better suited for people over age 18. Or, a host may plan to talk about a difficult life experience and they would feel more comfortable knowing the conversation is limited to adults.”

This comes months after TikTok alsowanted to identify and restrict content appropriate for younger and older teens versus adults and had indicated that they would ask the creators to specify which content is appropriate for a particular audience.

Another minor update to the live streaming feature is that the platform will also allow five other people in the multi-guest stream and they are also updating the app’s keyword filtering feature to send reminders for creators to moderate their comments, said reports.

This move also comes after a BBC report found that hundreds of accounts had been going live from Syrian refugee camps, with children begging for donations with the app’s live streaming tool, “We are deeply concerned by the information and allegations brought to us by the BBC, and have taken prompt and rigorous action.”

The report also alleged that the company has been taking a huge chunk of the money donated. The company has since refuted these allegations and said, “This type of content is not allowed on our platform, and we are further strengthening our global policies around exploitative begging.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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