Child protection agents and social networks. The TiKToK dilemma

Abstract

Minors must enjoy all rights and freedoms, and they must be provided with guarantees for their self-realisation. Videos on social networks are the showcase wherein they project their personality and concerns. In Information and Communication Technologies, young people find the tools and languages whereby they develop their creativity and socialise. The article focuses on the protection systems that TiKToK offers to minors given its penetration among them. In the results phase, an analysis was performed based on a review of the “Conditions of Use” and other instruments, all confronted by the youth protection agents, closing with a brief presentation of cases. A range of videos created and broadcast by minors were observed. As a discussion, the work shows that TiKToK presents some questions that diverge from the specific framework in which it operates, opting to present general norms for contexts in which greater specificity would have been desirable. We conclude by acknowledging that TiKToK makes efforts to control the access of minors, as well as the content they generate and consume, but this dilemma is not always met.