TikTok continues to add more ways to protect users from potentially offensive and harmful content

Some months ago, TikTok announced it was testing a content rating system, which is similar to the way movies are rated: G, PG, PG-13, R, or NC-17.

Having been under severe pressure to protect kids online, the Social media giant told Protocol, “When the system is fully launched, content that we’ve identified as containing overtly mature themes could be restricted from teens.”

The company has officially launched the first version of this system, called “Content Levels,” to help prevent content with overtly mature themes from reaching audiences between ages 13-17.

“When we detect that a video contains mature or complex themes, for example, fictional scenes that may be too frightening or intense for younger audiences, a maturity score will be allocated to the video to help prevent those under 18 from viewing it across the TikTok experience.”

TikTok is also planning to launch a new feature that will allow users to filter out videos with certain words or hashtags from showing up in their feeds.

You will be able to specify specific words or hashtags you don’t want to see in your feeds, and the app will automatically filter them out.

Here’s how it work: Let’s say videos related to dieting, extreme fitness, sadness (TikTok’s examples) have constantly been showing up on your feed, and you don’t want to see them any more; you can look up the hashtags (or certain words) used in such posts and indicate that in your settings (via the ‘Details’ tab when you action the video), while you can also block content containing chosen key terms within the description.

Really, both features are designed to give users more control over their TikTok experience while making the app safer, particularly for younger users.

Making TikTok a safe platform for entertainment and information is a big concern for the company which is currently facing a lawsuit over two young girls who died as a result of deadly content exposed to them.

The Social Media giant says, “We want to play a positive role in the lives of the people who use our app, and we’re committed to fostering an environment where people can express themselves on a variety of topics, while also protecting against potentially challenging or triggering viewing experiences.”

TikTok’s new features are rolling out to everyone “in the coming weeks,” the company said.