VIRGINIA BEACH, Va — Imagine for a moment that you're a teenager scrolling through one of the most popular social media apps and then suddenly, the app tells you it's time to unplug.
This week, a new guideline coming from TikTok is doing exactly that to teens under the age of 18.
On Wednesday, the head of trust and safety of TikTok, Cormac Keenan, wrote in a postthat, soon, the accounts of minors will be set to a 60-minute daily screen time limit.
Once the 60 minutes is up, TikTok says teens will have to enter a passcode to keep watching. For kids 13 and under, the same daily limit applies, but once it's up a parent or guardian will need to type in a passcode. Entering one will then only extend the screen time for another 30 minutes.
News 3 drove out to Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach to ask some of the teens how they felt about this new restriction. Surprisingly, one junior said unplugging from the platform isn't entirely a bad thing.
"I don’t think it’s terrible because there are too many people who spend too much time on it and it’s very bad for your mental health and self-image," says Nalani Lasmarias.
An announcement from the White House revealed that it's not just teens who are being taken off the "Tok".
On Monday, the White House told government agency employees that there’s a 30-day countdown to delete the app on government devices. This comes after the U.S. government banned TikTok on the phones of federal employees in December. The reason was because of supposed security risks coming from the app headquartered in Beijing China.
Still, some kids that News 3 spoke to thought about some loopholes their teen peers could jump through such as lying about one's age. While some of the students say they would be "bummed" if the app quit on them while they were enjoying it, others told us it might just be for the best.
"It’s a good thing. I think it will help you focus on other things besides TikTok," says Phong Diep.
