Teen accounts come with stricter settings. But European regulators say the endless feed that keeps teenagers watching breaks EU law, and nothing a parent can switch off changes that.
What a teen account does.
- Under-16s: the account is private, they can’t send or receive direct messages, and nobody can download their videos. Notifications stop at 9pm.
- 16- and 17-year-olds: messages are off until they switch them on, and notifications stop at 10pm.
- All under-18s: a 60-minute daily limit is set by default, but they can keep watching by typing in a passcode.
What you can control. Family Pairing links your account to your teen’s. From your own phone you can:
- set a daily limit they can’t skip
- block whole times of day
- choose who can message them
- keep the account private
- filter topics and words out of their feed
- see who they follow and who follows them
Since January you can also block specific accounts, and get a notification when your teen posts publicly. TikTok also tells you if your teen logs out or switches account.
Where it leaks. In 2025 the campaign group Global Witness set up accounts as 13-year-olds with Restricted Mode switched on. The first time they tapped the search bar, TikTok suggested sexual searches that led to pornography. TikTok removed the content and says it has fixed the suggestions. Separately, a teen can open a second account with a different birthday, and Family Pairing won’t cover it.
What Europe says. In February the European Commission found, provisionally, that TikTok’s design breaks EU law: the endless scroll, autoplay, the notifications and the way it picks videos. It said TikTok needs to change the basic design of its service. In July it found that teen accounts aren’t safe enough, because teenagers can still make them public. On 6 November it added that the For You feed pulls people into harmful rabbit holes about mental health and body image. TikTok calls the February findings false and says it will fight them. None of these is a final decision yet. If they’re confirmed, the fine could reach 6% of TikTok’s worldwide turnover.
In the US. Meta has agreed a two-hour default limit for teens on Instagram and Facebook, and is pressing TikTok to do the same. TikTok hasn’t. It settled before the first social media addiction trial in Los Angeles, which found against Meta and YouTube.
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What this means for you right now
If your teen uses TikTok, this is what I’d do.
Set up Family Pairing and set the daily limit yourself. The default one is a passcode away from not existing.
Don’t rely on Restricted Mode on its own. Every so often, ask your teen to show you what comes up when they search.
Check there’s only one account. Family Pairing tells you if your teen logs out, but it can’t see a second account.
Wherever you are, watch the For You feed case. If Europe wins, it’ll be the first time a regulator has made TikTok change how the feed works, not just who’s allowed on it.
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See how TikTok compares with the other apps your teen uses in the App scorecard.
Checked 13 November 2026.
Sources:
- Euronews, TikTok’s addictive design breaches EU law, February 2026
- MaltaToday, EU Commission finds TikTok feed breaches rules over harmful rabbit holes, November 2026
- European Commission, TikTok accounts for minors not safe enough, July 2026
- CNN, TikTok searches pushed 13-year-olds toward pornographic content, October 2025
- TikTok, safety and privacy settings for teens
- Common Sense Media, how to set parental controls on TikTok
