About 170 million people use TikTok in our country, with about one million right here in Nevada.
TikTok's U.S. Data Security Team held a roundtable discussion in Reno on Tuesday.
They talked about how the platform is trying to be safer for its users, especially teenagers.
The team stresses the importance of its community guidelines, which has more than 30 policies on it.
The Trust and Security team is made up of more than 40,000 people making sure they're looking into the content that's on the app.
"It's a combination of technology where you can use technology to see if this is violative, and then if the technology can't figure it out, then it goes to the human moderator - many of whom are here in the U.S. - and then they'll look at it and make that decision," said Suzy Loftus, Head of Trust and Safety, TikTok USDS.
The app also has designated special moderators that are looking into issues such as misinformation, hate speech, or child safety.
This year, TikTok has invested more than $2 billion into security efforts.
In 2023, the company says they removed about 68 million videos, which they say 93 percent were removed before a report was made.
TikTok has spread across the entire globe since its inception.
The company tells us that most of its users are over the age of 30, but they have many under the age of 18.
The app has restrictions for those teens to make sure they're staying safe.
"They have automatically a 60-minute time limit," Loftus said. "If you're 13 to 15 your account is private by default - we don't let anyone download your videos."
The app has specific restrictions for different teenaged groups.
Other restrictions include the ability to go live, night time push notification, and comment rules.
TikTok has an age limit of 13-years-old to get the app.
They have deleted about 76 million under-13 accounts.
They also have a tool for parents to link their TikTok account to their kid's to moderate their use.
"One of my favorite features that we offer and that I use with my teens is called family pairing," Loftus said. "Where you literally sit down with your teen and you take your phone and pair your account, and then you get to talk about what are the rules of your house."
Over the years, we've seen dangerous TikTok challenges, impacting our local community.
TikTok says they actively take the videos down, but they also try and make teens second guess before taking part.
"If they search for it, either by the term or a hashtag, they're going to get redirected towards resources to say 'hey - take a second to think about what you're looking for, and really decide if this something that you want to do'," Loftus said.
