TikTok implements measures to curb nightly scrolling among teenagers past their bedtimes.
TikTok's making a move to soothe the nagging worries that come with late-night scrolling sessions for teens. After 10 PM, the platform dials down the digital speed with guided meditation sessions, promoting robust sleep. Here's the gist:
In the name of mitigating mental health issues connected with social media, TikTok tosses out tranquility to troubled teens. Scroll past your bedtime, and the app will grace you with a gentling meditation exercise. If you choose to brush it off, TikTok will give you a second chance with a harder-to-dismiss, full-screen prompt.
The feature catches the attention of 98% of the tested teenagers, as per TikTok's accounts. And yes, this peace-inducing tool is accessible to adults too, but it automatically switches on for the under-18s.
As for the grown-ups, TikTok also plans to throw some love at mental health charities by letting them chill in the ad space on the app. With all these recent efforts, it's evident that big tech is leaning towards safeguarding young minds.
But the call for protecting young users doesn't stop at TikTok. Companies worldwide are stepping up their game lately. In the UK, Ofcom's new regulations threaten fines or even a ban if firms don't clean up the curated content catered to youngsters. Meanwhile, in Australia, the social media party is soon restricted to over-16s, with the ban kicking in from December 2025.
And let's not forget the big names Meta and Snapchat. They've hopped on board the safety bandwagon, too. Meta unveils restricted Teen accounts, beefing up privacy and safety settings for the younger users, while Snapchat puts the brakes on adult connections with minors. These consolidated efforts highlight the growing demands for robust safeguards in the digital world.
[Enrichment Data:]- TikTok's Initiatives: Apart from the bedtime meditation feature, TikTok has other plans too. The app pledges to gift advertising space to mental health charities [3].- Meta's Restricted Teen Accounts: To give teenagers more control over their privacy and safety settings, Meta rolls out restricted accounts [3].- Snapchat's Safety Measures: Snapchat heightens safety guidelines by making it tougher for adults to contact young users [3].- Regulatory Actions: In addition to the UK, Australia is also taking steps to safeguard young users online. They have imposed a ban on under-16s using social media from December 2025 [3].
- TikTok, acknowledging the potential impact of social media on mental health, has introduced a bedtime meditation feature to help troubled teens unwind after 10 PM, and they've also pledged to donate advertising space to mental health charities.
- Following suit, Meta is introducing restricted accounts for teenagers to provide enhanced privacy and safety settings, while Snapchat is toughening safety guidelines to make it harder for adults to contact young users.
- In line with these efforts, regulatory bodies such as Ofcom in the UK and the Australian government are imposing stricter regulations on digital companies, threatening fines and even bans if they fail to ensure safe content for young users.
