TikTok introduced new Family Pairing features, expanding parental controls for teen accounts amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny and legal challenges concerning child safety on the platform.

The social media company added automatic notifications that alert parents when their teens post content visible to others on the platform. This feature aims to facilitate conversations about online sharing without restricting teens’ creativity or independence, according to Suzy Loftus, Head of Trust and Safety for TikTok U.S. Data Security.

Parents will also gain greater insight into their teens’ privacy settings, including whether teens aged 16-17 have enabled content downloads or allowed others to Duet or Stitch with their posts. For younger users aged 13-15, these features remain permanently disabled by default.

A previously announced feature enabling teens to alert parents when they report content has now been globally implemented. While parents won’t see the specific reported content, the tool is designed to encourage conversations about online boundaries and safety.

Building on TikTok’s recently introduced Manage Topics feature, which allows users to customize how frequently certain content appears in their feed, parents can now view which topics their teen has selected to shape their recommendations. This visibility covers popular categories like Creative Arts, Travel, Nature, and Sports.

TikTok is also expanding blocking capabilities within Family Pairing. After previously allowing parents to see accounts their teens had blocked, the platform now enables parents to directly block specific accounts from their teen’s experience. When activated, blocked accounts cannot interact with the teen, their content disappears from the teen’s feed, and profile access is restricted.

While teens can request account unblocking, parents retain final decision-making authority. This feature will initially launch in European markets.

Regulatory Context

These enhancements come as TikTok faces significant regulatory challenges. In July 2024, UK communications regulator Ofcom fined TikTok £1.875 million for providing inaccurate information about its Family Pairing feature adoption rates. The company acknowledged it “significantly undercounted the actual number of people using this pioneering parenting tool.”

Simultaneously, TikTok is defending against multiple lawsuits concerning child safety. In July 2025, a New Hampshire court rejected TikTok’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the platform employs “addictive design features” targeting young users. The ruling enables the state’s claims to proceed, focusing on the app’s “defective and dangerous features” rather than content.

TikTok disputed these characterizations, stating it provides “robust safety protections and screen time limits for teen accounts enabled by default, Family Pairing tools for parents to supervise their teens, strict livestreaming requirements, and proactive ongoing enforcement” of community guidelines.

The platform also faces a potential nationwide ban in the United States if its parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t complete a divestiture of U.S. operations by September 17.