Together with Praesidio Safeguarding, an organization focused on online safety, the Youth Council consists of 15 young people aged between 15 and 18 from various countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Indonesia, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, and Morocco. The first meeting of the Youth Council took place in December 2023, followed by a recent session led by TikTok's CEO Shou Chew in February.
During the first meeting of the Youth Council, these young people discussed the importance of educational campaigns. In 2024, TikTok will launch more than 10 in-app media literacy campaigns worldwide, including substantive explorations of topics such as misinformation and AI-generated content.
Additionally, the Youth Council has set priorities for 2024, focusing on inclusion and the well-being of young people. The council aims to ensure that TikTok remains a safe and accessible place where everyone can be themselves. During the meeting in February, the young people also:
Provided input for the redevelopment of TikTok's Youth Portal,
Requested information about the reporting and blocking processes on TikTok to better understand what happens after a report is made.
*Insights from the research
The research was conducted by YouGov in collaboration with TikTok and provides insight into how Dutch young people and parents of young people deal with online safety. The research shows that:
- Most parents/caregivers (56%) talk to their children about the online world at least weekly.
- Almost half of young people and parents/caregivers (44%) avoid certain conversations, such as those about body image.
- Parents find it easier to talk about alcohol and drug use (44%), discrimination (40%), and religion (42%) than about online safety.
- Parents/caregivers in Mexico (44%) and the US (40%) make the most use of parental control tools. The Netherlands, on the other hand, lags behind with 30%.
- 21% of parents/caregivers in the Netherlands would like to use the available monitoring tools, but are either unaware of them (12%) or do not know how to use them (9%).
TikTok is committed to incorporating these insights into its platform strategy. Therefore, the company has sought advice from external advisors through its Advisory Council, and has developed in-app tips based on feedback from young people. The platform is also working with industry experts to educate families about online safety through its Safety Center and Family Pairing tools.
TikTok remains committed to parents and caregivers, and future collaborations with the Youth Council, to address the online safety and well-being needs of young people worldwide.
