Let's all work together to combat online harassment
Engaged for over a year with the’e-Childhood Association, the benchmark for the protection of minors on the Internet, TikTok supports the Association in its mission to raise public awareness – especially the youngest children and their parents – the proper use of digital technology. This includes teaching them how to respond to cyberbullying and preventing risky behaviour.
This commitment was reinforced last September, TikTok becoming Official partner of the Association. The platform thus provides ongoing support for awareness-raising and prevention initiatives carried out in schools and its national helpline 3018 for combating cyberbullying which provides help and support to young victims and their parents. These initiatives echo the educational approach to digital safety and wellbeing advocated by TikTok.
On 5 November, as part of the national «No to Bullying» day» supported by the Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sport, TikTok and the’e-Childhood Association, which is the official partner of the French Ministry of Education in the prevention and fight against cyberbullying among students, is once again taking action. The aim is to prevent all forms of bullying, ensure that direct and indirect victims can find the comfort and support they need, and regain control of their digital lives. In this effort to raise awareness and combat bullying, platforms, associations, institutions, parents and users as a whole all have an active role to play.
An educational approach to online safety and digital wellbeing
To provide a positive and peaceful online experience, everyone's involvement is necessary.
Thus, the Family Connection Mode developed by TikTok is aimed at parents and offers them a new approach to help their teenagers navigate the internet safely while maintaining control over their interactions and screen time.
Here, parents play a leading role and support their teenagers as they discover the digital world, its uses and its rules. This feature, which aims to raise awareness among younger users, facilitates constructive dialogue between parents and children.
Therefore, it is essential that parents understand the platform in order to educate their teenagers about how to manage their online experience.
That is why, TikTok has developed a Parents' Portal dedicated. They then access a detailed presentation of the application and find answers to their questions about their teenagers' digital lives, as well as all the features offered for a peaceful online experience. They can also find lots of advice by consulting the TikTok guide for parents, produced in partnership with the e-Enfance Association, and available for free download.
At TikTok, the safety and wellbeing of our users is our top priority.
Online safety and the protection of its users, especially the youngest ones, has always been a top priority for TikTok. Thus, TikTok promotes a safe and supportive environment where everyone is free to express their creativity and be themselves without fear of being humiliated, intimidated or harassed. To foster and maintain this unique spirit, TikTok has developed and implemented advanced policies and features. The Community Rules, a veritable code of conduct on the platform, clearly sets out the behaviour and content expected of users.
We therefore remove all expressions of abuse, including violent threats, sexual harassment, and derogatory statements about appearance, intellect, personality traits, etc. We do not tolerate any content that attacks or incites violence against an individual or group of individuals. We remove such content from our platform.
Therefore, if a user becomes a victim of cyberbullying, we want them to know that they are not alone in this situation and recommend that they talk to their loved ones and contact the Net Ecoute 3018 national helpline for combating cyberbullying, operated by the e-Enfance Association. Free, anonymous and confidential, the service is also available by email, chat and messenger from 9am to 8pm, Monday to Saturday.
Finally, we invite users, whether victims or witnesses, to report any content or behaviour directly from within the application. It will then be submitted to our teams and removed if it violates our community rules.
In addition, numerous features are available to users so that they can take control of their digital experience. These include access to the Direct messaging for those aged 16 and over exclusively; the ability to restrict the visibility of their videos to their circle of friends only, or even to disallow comments on their videos. All of these digital security and wellbeing features can be found on the TikTok portal for young people accessible directly on the website TikTok.com and in the application settings.
Victims or witnesses of cyberbullying: advice from the e-Enfance Association
– Talk to someone you trust.
– Keep evidence (take screenshots on your computer or smartphone)
– Block the malicious account(s)
– Report it online on the TikTok platform to stop the spread of inappropriate content (anonymous feature for reporting abusive content or users).
– File a complaint if necessary.
– At any time, call the national toll-free number 3018 for the protection of minors on the Internet, which will provide you with advice and assistance.
About the e-Enfance Association
Recognised as a public utility, the e-Enfance Association has been the benchmark for the protection of minors on the Internet since 2005. Approved by the Ministry of National Education, it offers interventions in schools, training on the risks and proper use of the Internet, and operates the national Net Ecoute helpline to combat cyberbullying.
Free, anonymous and confidential, Net Ecoute 3018 is the national helpline specialising in the protection of minors on the Internet. It is the only alert system directly linked to social networks, the reporting platforms of the National Police (Pharos), the National Gendarmerie (Digital Brigade) and 119-Enfance en danger (Children in Danger).
