TikTok announces content maturity ranking system

Wednesday, TikTok announced that in the coming weeks, the platform will roll out a content maturity ranking system aimed at preventing inappropriate content from reaching teenage users, as well as other features that allow users to customize their For You Pages.

The new system, dubbed "Content Levels" will organize content based on "thematic maturity." Mature content, like fictional scenes deemed "too frightening or intense for younger audiences," will be assigned a "maturity score" to help prevent it from reaching TikTok users under 18. "We understand that people may want to avoid certain categories of content based on their personal preferences," said Cormac Keenan, Head of Trust and Safety at TikTok, in the press release about the new policy. "Or, for our teenage community members, some content may contain mature or complex themes that may reflect personal experiences or real-world events that are intended for older audiences."

However, TikTok didn't provide any method for verifying the age of users. Currently, you have to be 13 or older to use the full version of the app, but it doesn't verify your age when you sign-up.

TikTok has faced criticism from lawmakers, parents, and mental health experts for putting young people at risk, and for putting potentially harmful content on users FYPs. It will also be rolling out an additional safeguard in addition to Content Levels. TikTok acknowledges in its press release that repeatedly viewing videos on dieting, extreme fitness, and sadness has the potential to be problematic, and will be showing fewer videos about those topics at a time going forward.

TikTok is also launching a tool users can use to filter out videos with words or hashtags they don't want to see on their feeds. Previously, you could select "Not Interested" on videos they didn't want on their FYP, but users complained that the feature was ineffective.