One-third of American parents think TikTok should be banned in the US

As children navigate their way through remote learning and all the fun social media has to offer, parents wonder: how can they keep them safe while allowing them enough freedom to explore the internet?

All About Cookies surveyed 1,000 parents to learn more about kids’ security online and parents’ approaches to keeping them safe.

When it comes to the overall assessment of social media, half of the parents (50%) are either happy it wasn’t around when they were kids or think it makes children grow up way too fast. To mitigate that, 30% of K-12 parents keep their children off of social media entirely.

Out of all social media, TikTok gained the least trust from parents, with 52% saying they don’t feel confident that their kids’ data is safe there. TikTok was followed by Snapchat (51%,) Facebook (46%,) and Instagram (45%.) Youtube, however, was the most trusted platform, with only 27% of respondents having doubts about it.

One-third (33%) of parents even suggested that TikTok should be banned entirely in the United States.

Others who felt less strongly suggested that TikTok should restrict content by user age and that lawmakers should establish new privacy laws on the platform.

Overall, 30% of parents felt that TikTok’s content is too adult-themed, and 26% said that TikTok is harming kids.

Earlier this year, it was announced that people over 18 years old based in the UK, Switzerland, and EEA (European Economic Area) countries would get personalized ads on TikTok even if they haven't consented.

To keep children safe online, parents opted for a variety of strategies. The majority avoid including identifying information in posts involving children and only post photos and location data after returning from trips. Some never include location information in posts featuring kids altogether.

Some parents went much further to control their children’s behavior online. As such, 23% said they check their kids’ browsing history at least once a day, 25% – multiple times a week, and 14% – either once a week or once/twice a month.

“With social media specifically, 37% of parents say they have full access to their child’s social media accounts, including complete login access,” the report suggests.