Sharjah24 - Reuters: TikTok is working on ways to rate and restrict content by age in order to prevent adult content from reaching teenage users of its short video app, the company said at a news briefing.

TikTok, which has exploded in popularity among teens in recent years, said it was running a small test for how adult-rated content could be restricted from accounts belonging to younger users, either by the user or their parents and guardians.

The company, owned by Chinese tech titan ByteDance, said it was drawing on the types of content-rating standards already used for movies and gaming. It said it would test a way for creators on the app to specify if they want their content to only be viewed by older audiences.

Social media platforms have been under scrutiny over their approaches to the wellbeing and safety of younger users. Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has been blasted by U.S. lawmakers over its plan to introduce a version of Instagram for kids.