Kardashian TikTok Drama: How Your Child Can Stay Safe Online

The drama between Kanye West and Kim Kardashian over their daughter North’s TikTok is far from over as Kanye melts down over the parenting issue.

This isn’t the first time North’s TikTok has caused trouble after she gave 2.1million followers a virtual tour without her mum’s permission.

Social media can pose many potential risks to its underage users, which is why Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri recently announced a new series of tools and safety features designed to protect young users of the platform.

Sam O’Brien, CMO of performance marketing platform Affise, shares some tips for parents to ensure their children are navigating various social media sites – including TikTok – as safely as possible:

Be aware of age limits on sites

While it may seem as though your child is the only person in their class or year at school who is yet to have access to their own Instagram or TikTok account (or at least that’s what they will have you believe), you should not feel pressured into doing so before they are emotionally ready.

The majority of platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, have a minimum age requirement of 13. Despite the fact that many children aged much younger than this have access to social profiles, think about whether you are happy with your 8 year old consuming content on a regular basis that’s been aimed and targeted towards those aged at least 5 years older than them.

Create house rules and stick to them

As soon as your child begins to show an interest in social media and you feel they are responsible enough and ready to download the app to their phones and laptops, be sure to implement rules from the offset so they know exactly what you will and will not stand for.

Consider setting phones aside during the after school hours when homework needs completing, and consider keeping phones outside of bedrooms so that children aren’t scrolling through apps well into the night and are instead focused on catching up with much needed sleep.

Partake in ongoing conversations around social media usage

For older children that need mobile phones in order to stay safe during journeys home and when they are out and about seeing friends, introduce weekly phone checks at a different time every week so they understand that transparency around the content they are consuming comes with the privilege of having access to their device.

This will help you understand how and what they are using social media for, and if they are conducting any inappropriate behaviour you can explain your concerns on safety and how important it is to be educated on potential dangers.

It will also help both you and your child to build up a more trusting and honest relationship surrounding online technology and the internet. Let them know you are always there to help and offer guidance should they need to talk or feel concerned about something they’ve seen on social media.

Educate yourself on technology

Let’s be honest here – Instagram, TikTok and WhatApp aren’t going anywhere any time soon, so it’s vital to educate yourself on social media to get a better understanding of how the sites works, how they are used by your child’s generation and why social media is so important to them and their generation.

If you haven’t already done so, download an account yourself and make sure your child allows you to access their profile as a follower. Teach yourself the ins and outs of how the platform works so you know if your child is trying to use your lack of tech savviness as a way to get away with something they shouldn’t.

Sam shares some additional comments on the Instagram safety update:

“The new safety features being rolled out on Instagram will include parental oversight, a tool to help users manage how much time is spent on the app, a limit on unwanted interactions with other accounts, and exposure to sensitive content.

“While these all sound great in principle, and will hopefully do some good in overturning the potential harm apps like Instagram can encourage, there are some red flags that appear when you delve a little deeper into the proposals.

“First of all, it’s no secret that Instagram is already competing with apps that are proving significantly more popular with younger demographics, like TikTok. There is therefore the issue that these new measures could well dissuade young people from continuing to use the app if they feel they are being spied on or monitored by their parents.

“Secondly, and perhaps even more importantly, any Instagram users under the age of 18 would be required to opt-in in order for parents or guardians to gain access to the controls. Realistically speaking, it’s highly unlikely that young users are going to willingly allow this access. One may even argue it could encourage them to set up a separate, private account without their parents’ knowledge that could worsen the existing issues associated with Instagram, including the exacerbation of body image and mental health issues.

“For those parents that feel the above barriers of the new tools and features are likely to apply to their situation, below are some simple steps to follow that will help to keep children as safe as possible on Instagram, TikTok and any other social media platforms.”