TikTok will block under-16s from using DMs at the end of April

• TikTok will ban under-16s from using its private messaging service from April 30, the company announced on Thursday.
• "Direct Messaging is an amazing tool that enables people to make new friends and connections no matter where they are in the world, but despite its potential for good, we understand the potential for misuse," TikTok said in a statement.
• The decision comes as TikTok is closing in on 2 billion downloads, partly fueled by the onset of the coronavirus driving people to connect online.
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TikTok, the video-based social app beloved by teens, will soon cut off a significant chunk of the teenage population from private messaging.

The company on Thursday announced its decision to disable private messaging for under-16s, it announced in a blog post. TikTok said the change was "part of our commitment to improve safety on TikTok."

"Direct Messaging is an amazing tool that enables people to make new friends and connections no matter where they are in the world, but despite its potential for good, we understand the potential for misuse," TikTok wrote.

The change will take effect on April 30 and TikTok said it will send a notification to users soon alerting them. According to the BBC, TikTok will determine which accounts to block based on the date of birth entered when they were set up, and won't carry out any additional checks.

TikTok's meteoric rise has accelerated in recent months with more and more people turning to online platforms to stay in touch during the coronavirus outbreak. Analytics site Sensor Tower reported in March that the app was closing in on 2 billion downloads, and was most downloaded non-game app in January and February 2020 — outstripping Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp.

The timing of TikTok's decision to cut off private messaging for a key demographic is curious, and while it seems geared towards keeping children safe online critics have warned it will be ineffective as under-16s can simply lie about their age.

"It's good that TikTok are showing an awareness of these issues but without having any meaningful way of checking children's ages it's a lot less than it appears to be," John Carr, secretary for the British Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety told the BBC.

"It's potentially dangerous because parents might allow children to go on an app believing that age means something, and it doesn't, because they never check," he added.