The minimum age for live streaming on TikTok will increase from 16 to 18 starting next month.
BBC News reports that an investigation found hundreds of live streams from Syrian refugee camps where children were pleading for money.
Some were making up to $900 (₱53,000) an hour, but TikTok took up to 70% when they withdrew the money.
TikTok said that in the future, only adults would be able to “send virtual gifts or access features for making money.”
And “in the coming weeks,” users would be able to run live streams for adults only.
It’s unclear how TikTok will ensure that these age limits are followed, though.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and Google, which owns YouTube, have a minimum age of 13 for live streaming and already let users set age restrictions on the content they upload.
TikTok’s rules say you can’t directly ask for gifts and must “keep minors from getting hurt, put in danger, or used.”
TikTok said that this kind of content wasn’t allowed on its platform and that its cut from digital gifts was much less than 70%, but it hasn’t said precisely how much.
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