TikTok has introduced its new ‘Family Academy’ initiative in the UAE, aiming to empower local families with tools and knowledge to foster digital safety and wellbeing. The program brings together parents, creators, and digital safety advocates to spotlight responsible online habits and provide practical support for navigating the digital world.
The inaugural Family Academy event featured a panel discussion titled “Empowering Families to Navigate the Online World Together,” with insights from Ilunga Mpyana, TikTok’s Head of Public Policy Programmes for the Middle East, Turkey, Africa, Pakistan, and South Asia; educator and TikTok Changemaker Jana Bou Reslan; and parenting content creator Remie Salloum as moderator.
The panel explored critical themes such as recognizing digital fatigue in teenagers, encouraging positive screen time habits, and co-curating personalized and healthy digital experiences. It also showcased TikTok’s suite of safety tools, including screen time management, content filters, family pairing, and advanced keyword filtering, designed to support healthier digital boundaries and foster open family conversations.
“Our goal is to provide families with meaningful control and customizable features that encourage responsible online behavior while fostering creativity in a supportive community,” said Mpyana. “This year alone, we have introduced over 15 new safety features enhancing our family pairing tools. TikTok’s Community Guidelines form the backbone of our safety ecosystem, continuously evolving to address emerging risks and protect users.”
Key recent enhancements focus on family pairing, a feature launched five years ago and regularly updated with input from families and digital safety experts. These include:
- Parental control over teen app breaks: Parents can decide when teens should take breaks from the app. Teens may request additional time, but the final decision rests with the parents or guardians.
- Personalized reminders: Parents can set customized reminders for teens to limit daily app usage.
- Enhanced privacy controls: Parents can monitor who their teens follow and who follows them, view blocked accounts, and manage who can see or interact with their teen’s content and send direct messages.
- Wind Down Mode: For teens under 18 using TikTok after 10 pm, this mode provides a calming full-screen reminder with soothing music, followed by a harder-to-dismiss prompt if scrolling continues, encouraging healthier nighttime habits.
Through ‘Family Academy’ and continuous feature improvements, TikTok aims to support families in creating safe, balanced, and positive digital experiences for youth across the UAE.
