TikTok has unveiled new protections for teens, including limiting notifications at night.

TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms, but has been mired in controversy. The company has been accused time and again of not respecting user privacy, and has taken heat for abusing the privacy of its youngest users.

The company is taking action to address those concerns, rolling out a number of additional protections, including to Direct Messaging, public videos and nighttime notifications.

TikTok will turn the Direct Messaging setting for teens 16-17 who join the platform, or existing accounts that have never used DMs, to ‘No One.’

When uploading new videos, teens under 16 will be prompted to select who can view their video when they upload their first one. A similar prompt will display when teens choose to allow their videos to be downloaded.

Another major step TikTok is taking is limiting nighttime notifications in an effort to help teens develop healthier digital habits.

We want to help our younger teens in particular develop positive digital habits early on, and we regularly consult with leading paediatric experts and youth well-being advocates to develop our Youth Portal, bullying prevention guide, and other features that support youth-well being. Now, we’ll be drawing upon this research to make changes that reduce the time period during which our younger teens can receive push notifications. Accounts aged 13-15 will not receive push notifications from 9pm, and accounts aged 16-17 will have push notifications disabled starting at 10pm.

TikTok still has a long way to go before it establishes a strong track record of respecting and protecting user privacy, but these measures are certainly headed in the right direction.