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Comment by tolugenius | Hacker News Reader

> Liu also said Texas had established that TikTok's "Restricted Mode" did not work as advertised and exposed minors to content the company said would be filtered out.

I don't use tiktok, can someone explain what the restrict mode was advertised as vs does? If it's like any social media limiter it's perhaps a softer thing (time limit) than a hard thing (ie, designed to put the onus on the user).

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> The State’s second argument concerns TikTok’s representations about whether its “Restricted Mode” feature effectively filtered out content that might be inappropriate for minors. TikTok claimed that Restricted Mode “limits the appearance of content that may not be appropriate for all audiences” and that users “shouldn’t see mature or complex themes,” such as “profanity,” “sexually suggestive content,” “realistic violence or threatening imagery,” “firearms or weapons in an environment that isn’t appropriate,” “illegal or controlled substances/drugs,” and “explicit references to mature or complex themes that may reflect personal experiences or real-world events that are intended for older audiences.” For years, the State argues, TikTok employees internally recognized that Restricted Mode was not functioning in the way it was marketed and exposed users to a high volume of content that should have been filtered out.

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/ima...

Based on their faq: https://www.tiktok.com/support/faq_detail?category=web_accou...

> You shouldn't see mature or complex themes, such as:

> • Profanity

> • Sexually suggestive content

> • Realistic violence or threatening imagery

> • Firearms or weapons in an environment that isn't appropriate

> • Illegal or controlled substances/drugs

> • Explicit references to mature or complex themes that may reflect personal experiences or real-world events that are intended for older audiences

It is clearly described as a content filter. (It also deactivates gifting on live and "following" feed.)

I wonder what counts as a complex theme? Surely that is a euphemism for something, but I can't figure out what it would be and certainly don't trust TikTok to do a good job of deciding what is too complex for the youth's minds.

I'd guess not-suggestive sexuality-related content, such as sex-ed. Possibly political stuff too?

Curious what they consider an “appropriate environment” for firearms and weapons

There are multiple Olympic events that use firearms and weapons. Or history tiktok is a thing.

I don't know what TikTok thinks, but I could imagine a target shooting sporting event as one such example.

Whenever I see a list like this, I wonder to myself: "Who gets to decide the list?" Why are we letting companies just decide on their own what's appropriate for "minors?"

Because 99% of adult people have other things to do than manually build content filters.

You could have, at least back when Trust and Safety roles weren't getting crushed by the AI stick.

Theres tons of research which can be brought to bear, genuine problems and challenges that require deep, thoughtful work, and some of the greatest people you will work with.

It is also absolute madness. There are so many insane, broken things about how safety is provided in the world, that you will feel like you are in a Elizabethan slaughter house, just at species scale. This is all excluding the world of child safety. Adding that to the mix gets you to existential nihilism quite rapidly.

From TikTok:

What Is Restricted Mode? Restricted Mode limits videos that may not be right for all viewers. It filters out mature or complex themes. Some features like LIVE videos and the Following feed are hidden while it is active

So I can only assume that it did not filter out these things.

IIRC, it's supposed to filter out disturbing or offensive content; any time you report a comment or a video, it suggests enabling it to prevent seeing that sort of thing in the future.

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