TikTok taps advocates to promote digital safety among youth

TikTok, one of the country’s most used social media platforms, launched an initiative on Thursday involving a partnership with content creators and advocates to promote youth online safety.

The #ThinkTwice Troop is an advocacy program comprising a network of academe, child safety experts, and child rights organizations that will help TikTok advance its digital safety initiatives, including the ongoing #ThinkTwice campaign it preceded.

“So, we want to have a team that we can always talk to and rely on to help us navigate some of the tricky challenges we face, as well as new challenges we might not even know about (on teen digital safety),” Yves Gonzalez, head of public policy for the Philippines at TikTok told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the media launch event.

TikTok said the program represents a holistic approach to teen safety through consultation, educational programs, and partnerships.

Mr. Gonzalez also said that through their partners, they could help educate educators and parents about the tools available on TikTok for teen digital safety.

Among the initial partners of #ThinkTwice Troop are organizations including Child Rights Coalition Asia (CRC Asia), Ateneo Human Rights Centre, and content creators Mona “Mighty Magulang” Magno-Veluz, and Riyan Portuguez.

The public policy head said these partners are just a start, but the ultimate goal is to expand the initiative throughout the country.

“So, I’m hoping that by the end of this year, we’ll have partners and troop members from Visayas and Mindanao,” he said.

Hazelyn Joy Bitaña, deputy regional executive director of CRC Asia, said that #ThinkTwice Troop aligns with the work of civil society organizations to protect youth while allowing them to thrive in the digital space.

“We believe that parents, educators, and the public and private sectors must work together to empower teens as they navigate the online world in the exercise of their rights and responsibilities,” Ms. Bitaña said.

Meanwhile, TikTok highlighted the tools on the platform to ensure the digital safety of the youth, including over 50 Teen Safety features, Family Pairing, For You Feed controls, and a Time and Well-being section.

The platform also noted that it enforces minimum age requirements through a neutral age gate, machine-learning technology, and a trained moderation team that reviews suspected underage accounts, using reports from the community or parents as additional signals.

Accounts flagged as underage are suspended and permanently banned if no successful appeal is submitted.

From July to September 2025, TikTok removed over 22 million accounts globally suspected to belong to users under 13, which it noted makes the company the first major platform to publicly disclose such figures. — Edg Adrian A. Eva