TikTok will warn users before posting ‘inappropriate or unkind’ comments
As part of new tools to ‘promote kindness’ on the service
TikTok is rolling out a pop-up today that’s designed to warn users before they post a comment that might be “inappropriate or unkind.” The new feature is one of two being announced that are designed to “promote kindness” on the service. The other is Filter All Comments, so that they only appear once individually approved.
The new unkind warning appears if TikTok believes a comment might violate its community guidelines. “Would you like to reconsider posting this?” the pop-up box reads, before encouraging users to “Edit” it, or “Post anyway.”
Prompts like these have been explored by other social networks to cut down on bullying and harassment. Instagram rolled out similar prompts back in 2019, Twitter announced it was testing them last year, and they’ve also been spotted on Facebook. Instagram later reported that results from introducing the prompt had been “promising” and that it found “these types of nudges can encourage people to reconsider their words when given a chance.”
The new Filter All Comments feature can be enabled in the Comments filters menu, which already allows users to filter spam and offensive comments, or filter based on specific keywords. Once enabled, creators have to manually approve individual comments before they appear under their videos.
As part of today’s announcement, TikTok has also announced it’s partnering with the Cyberbullying Research Center as it works on more anti-bullying initiatives.