Technologies
Is TikTok Safe for Kids? Change These 11 Privacy Settings Right Now
TikTok can be a dangerous place, especially for teenagers. Here’s how you can help protect them.
TikTok is the second-most-popular social media site among teenagers in the US. It not only offers kids an endless stream of entertaining videos, TikTok also connects people with their friends and family and with people who have similar interests. And it gives folks the chance to go viral with one of their own creations. But there’s also a dark side of TikTok.
Many kids and teens who have their videos go viral are subjected to harassment, ridicule and bullying. There’s also the worry of violent and obscene videos coming up in their timelines. Not to mention anonymous users sending inappropriate messages.
If you have kids on TikTok, or even use the service yourself, it’s important to become familiar with the features and settings TikTok offers to keep you safer while you’re online. Here are 11 settings that can help protect you from unwanted followers, harmful comments and violent videos on TikTok.
See everyone who views your TikTok profile
If you have a public account and you’re over 16 years old, anyone on TikTok can access your profile and watch your videos. (Accounts for people under 16 are automatically set to private.)
For many users, widespread exposure is the attraction of TikTok. It’s a chance for your content to be seen around the world. But you may not want everyone, like bullies or even some family members, to be able to view your TikTok account.
Luckily, it’s easy to find everyone who has looked at your profile.
- On TikTok, go to Profile and tap on the three-dash menu in the top right.
- Tap Settings and privacy and go into Privacy.
- Hit Profile views and toggle on Profile view history.
If you enable the profile views setting on TikTok, other people will be able to see when you check out their profile.
Nelson Aguilar/CNETYou’ll now be able to see everyone who’s viewed your profile in the last 30 days. If you find someone that you don’t want to have access to your profile and videos, you can then block them.
Block accounts on TikTok so they can’t see your profile
If you want to stop a certain account from being able to see your profile, you can block them — whether they’re harassing or stalking you, or for any reason you like.
- First, find the account you want to block and go to their profile.
- Next, tap on the three-dot icon in the top right.
- Finally, hit the Block button in the small menu that appears and then hit Block again when prompted.
Block someone’s account so they can’t see your profile, send you messages and more.
Nelson Aguilar/CNETNot only will a blocked account be unable to view your profile, they also can’t send you messages or even find your profile by searching for it. However, if your video is in a duet or you’re on a livestream with multiple hosts, it’s possible that a blocked account may be able to see those videos.
Set your TikTok account to private to control who can see it
The easiest way to maintain your privacy on TikTok is to make your account private, meaning only people you actively allow can view your profile and videos. To make your account private:
- Go to Profile in the nav bar at the bottom of the page.
- Tap the three-dash menu in the top right.
- Hit Settings and privacy > Privacy
- Toggle Private account to On
If your TikTok account is private, only those you accept as friends will be able to see your videos.
Nelson Aguilar/CNETAfter changing to a private account, only users that you approve can follow your account and watch your videos, but existing followers are allowed to continue following you. If that’s a problem, you’ll need to individually block any followers that you don’t want seeing your videos.
Stop people from downloading your TikTok videos
By default, anyone who stumbles across your video on TikTok can download it using the site’s built-in video download feature. If you don’t feel comfortable with other people having your videos saved on their devices, you can disable that feature.
- Go to Profile > three-dash menu > Settings and privacy
- Tap Downloads underneath the Interactions heading
- Toggle Video downloads to Off
There are still other ways to download videos from TikTok, especially with third-party services.
Nelson Aguilar/CNETUnfortunately, there are other ways that people can download your videos, such as screen recording, third-party apps and shortcuts, but this setting will prevent one of the most popular (and easiest) ways of downloading videos from TikTok.
Report problematic accounts, videos or comments on TikTok
Blocking an account may not always be enough. If an account is pretending to be someone else or harassing people in general, you might be able to report the offending actions and have the account restricted or permanently banned. Not only can you report individual accounts, but also specific videos, comments and direct messages.
To report hateful, violent or other prohibited content on TikTok:
- Account: Go to the account profile of the offending party, tap the three-dot icon in the top right, hit Report and follow the instructions.
- Video: Long press on the video, tap Report and follow the instructions.
- Live: Long press on the live video, tap Report and follow the instructions.
- Comment: Long press on the comment, tap Report and follow the instructions.
- Direct Message: Long press on the message or messages, tap Report and follow the instructions.
You can report TikTok accounts, videos, comments and other improper behavior.
Nelson Aguilar/CNETYou can report something for a variety of reasons, including minor safety, disordered eating, self-harm, adult nudity, bullying, harassment, spam, harmful misinformation, illegal activities, violent content and more.
Stop TikTok from recommending your account to other people
If you want your account to stay low-key and away from too many people’s eyes, you can stop your account from being suggested to other people that might have your contact information on their phone or have mutual friends with you. To stop your account from being recommended by TikTok:
- Go to Profile > three-dash menu > Settings and privacy > Privacy
- Tap Suggest your account to others
- Toggle off all the options
By default, your account is suggested to other people on TikTok.
Nelson Aguilar/CNETYour TikTok account is normally suggested to several groups, including your contacts, Facebook friends, people with mutual connections and people who open or send links to you (including links to content on TikTok that are shared outside of TikTok). Disable all of the settings to stop your account from being suggested at all, which will make it harder to find.
Keep your TikTok comment section safe and healthy
Comments on any social media service can quickly turn hostile, and TikTok is no exception. Fortunately there are several features buried in your TikTok settings to help you moderate your comments and eliminate spam and hateful comments.
To find your comment settings, go to Profile > three-dash menu > Settings and privacy > Privacy > Comments. Consider adjusting the following settings:
- Who can comment on your videos and Stories: Choose between all of your Followers, Followers that you also follow or No one.
- Comment filters: You can choose to filter all comments, only spam and offensive comments or comments with certain keywords. All filtered comments will be hidden until you individually approve them.
- Comment management: Here is where you can review your filtered comments, choosing Approve or Delete to decide which comments will appear beneath your videos.
Don’t like what’s going on in your comment section? Use these settings to manage it.
Nelson Aguilar/CNETRestrict who can tag and mention you on TikTok
As long as someone knows your TikTok username, they can tag you in other videos or mention you in comments. If someone is tagging you in videos you don’t want to see or mentioning you in comments as a way of targeted harassment, there is a way to prevent unwanted tagging.
First, you’ll need to find the mentions and tags settings. Go to Profile > three-dash menu > Settings and privacy > Privacy > Mentions and tags, and configure these settings:
- Who can tag you: Choose between Everyone, People you follow, People that follow you back or No one.
- Who can mention you: Again, choose between Everyone, People you follow, People that follow you back or No one.
You can restrict who mentions and tags you on TikTok
Nelson Aguilar/CNETAn in-box notification setting can also send you a notification anytime someone you follow likes or comments on videos you’re mentioned in, but that doesn’t really affect your privacy on TikTok.
Stop direct messages from strangers and stalkers on TikTok
While most content on TikTok is out there for the world to see, direct messages aren’t so clear and visible. Many people use DMs to harass, bully and spam other people. However, there is a way to help prevent that from happening to you.
Go to Profile > three-dash menu > Settings and privacy > Privacy > Direct messages, and change these settings:
- Who can send you direct messages: Choose between Followers that follow you back, People you sent messages to or No one.
- Message preference: If you toggle Filtered requests on, messages from people that TikTok suspects as being malicious or spammy will appear in your filtered requests until you reply to them.
Don’t let just anyone send you a direct message.
Nelson AguilarRestrict who can Duet or Stitch your TikTok videos
On TikTok, you can react to other videos by either inserting yourself into their videos or using their videos in your own. The Duet feature lets you create a reaction split-screen video, combining half of your video with half of someone’s else’s video to create a single reaction video. With the Stitch feature, your video and someone else’s video are integrated into each other — you can edit a portion of their video into yours.
If you’re not a fan of these features or don’t want other users putting your videos into theirs, you can disable them so that no one can Duet or Stitch your video. To do this, go to Profile > three-dash menu > Settings and privacy > Privacy and then:
- Duet: Choose between Followers, Followers that follow back or No one.
- Stitch: Choose between Followers, Followers that follow back or No one.
The Duet and Stitch features are fun, but they can also get out of control.
Nelson Aguilar/CNETIf your account is set to private, no one but you can create a Duet or Stitch with your videos.
Prevent others from viewing your following list and liked videos
You might post videos on TikTok for everyone to see, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you want everyone to be able to see who you’re following or which videos you like. Who you follow and what you like can give others more information than you might want to share, but you can easily set TikTok so that no one but you can see your follower list and liked videos.
To stop others from viewing your following list or liked videos, go go to Profile > three-dash menu > Settings and privacy > Privacy and then:
- Following list: Choose between Followers or Only me.
- Liked videos: Choose between Followers or Only me.
Just because you follow accounts and like videos doesn’t mean the whole world needs to know it.
Nelson Aguilar/CNETIf you select the «only me» option for the following list, other users will still be able to see your mutual friends.
For more about TikTok and privacy, learn how the company is protecting young users from inappropriate videos and why some US regulators are worried about TikTok sharing private user data with China.
Technologies
Pope Francis’ Funeral: How to Stream Live or Watch the Replay
Here’s how to stream the pope’s funeral very early Saturday, and what you can expect to see during the service.
After a week of global mourning for Pope Francis, who died on Monday at age 88, the pope’s funeral will be celebrated on Saturday . Francis’ funeral will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. local time at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City (which is very, very early if you’re tuning in from the US or Canada), and he will be laid to rest at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
The Vatican will be livestreaming the papal funeral and procession, though not the burial, on its YouTube channel as it happens. The funeral will also be televised live on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, as well as on streaming services like Disney Plus, Hulu, Peacock and Paramount Plus. Due to the time difference, it seems likely that many interested North American viewers will catch it when it’s replayed later on Saturday. Numerous networks will rebroadcast the service later that day.
If you choose to stay up, or get up early, here’s when the live broadcast of the pope’s funeral will air in your time zone in the continental US on April 26:
- ET: 4 a.m.
- CT: 3 a.m.
- MT: 2 a.m.
- PT: 1 a.m.
The papacy of Pope Francis was notable for the progressive reforms he brought to the Roman Catholic Church. He appointed more than half of the current College of Cardinals and attempted to foster more positive attitudes toward members of the LGBT community and migrants worldwide.
What to expect from the funeral
The funeral will follow many rituals, though not all traditional protocols will be followed. Most popes are buried in St. Peter’s Basilica or its grottoes, but the AP reports Francis chose the St. Mary Major Basilica to reflect his veneration of an icon of the Virgin Mary that is located there, the Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the People of Rome).
His funeral will be less elaborate than those of other popes per his own wishes. Francis simplified papal funeral rites last year, permitting his burial outside the Vatican, and emphasizing his role as a bishop rather than as pope (the pope is also the Bishop of Rome).
Previous popes were buried in three coffins: one of cypress, one of lead and one of oak. Francis requested to be buried in a single wooden, zinc-lined coffin and not to be placed in an elevated bier as other popes were.
The coffin will be taken from St Peter’s Basilica and placed on a dais in St Peter’s Square, where Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re will lead the service. After the service, the coffin will return to St Peter’s Basilica before it is carried across the River Tiber and to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major for burial. The ceremony is estimated to end around 2 p.m. local time, or four hours after it begins.
Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will be the first of nine Masses held daily at St. Peter’s until May 4. This is an ancient tradition of the Catholic Church that observes nine days of consecutive mourning. According to Vatican News, a different group of mourners will participate each day, though the Eucharistic celebrations are open to everyone.
Who will attend Pope Francis’ funeral?
Hundreds of people, including world leaders and royals, are expected to attend Pope Francis’ funeral.
US president Donald Trump confirmed on his Truth Social Platform that he and first lady Melania Trump will be at the funeral. This will be Trump’s first foreign trip in his second term. He is expected to have a seat in the third row, though the Vatican has yet to release an official seating chart. It is tradition for the first row of seats to go to Catholic royalty, and the second row to non-Catholic royals.
Prince William, who is attending on behalf of King Charles, will sit in the second row, which is reserved for non-Catholic royals. Former president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, devout Catholics, will also attend the funeral.
Conclave: What happens next to choose the new pope
After Pope Francis’ funeral, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will vote on his successor in an assembly of cardinals known as a conclave.
There are many matters for the cardinals to settle before the conclave begins, but once it does, it can take days or even weeks to conclude. Two-thirds of the cardinals’ votes are required to elect the next pope. The conclave occurs behind closed doors and the vote tally is never made public.
Read more: Where to Watch Conclave, the Vatican Thriller About Electing a New Pope
Look for the white smoke
The ballots are burned after each round, and chemicals are added to the flames to produce black smoke if there’s no majority. When a new pope has been selected, the chemicals will be added to the flames so they produce white smoke. Crowds gather in St. Peter’s Square to watch for the results.
If you’re fascinated by the process, you can watch a dramatized version of the events in 2024 film Conclave.
In the movie, Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, who spearheads the election of the next pope while investigating rumors about potential candidates. The film is based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris and is completely fictional — though it does represent some of the events of how actual papal conclaves take place. In March, the film won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.
You can stream Conclave on Amazon Prime Video, or rent it for $6 on Apple TV, Fandango at Home, YouTube or Google Play Movies.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 26, #685
Hints and answers for Connections for April 26, #685.
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Connections puzzle features a lot of short words, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. That purple category requires a lot of thinking — probably most people will solve it only by solving the other three and having four words left over. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Rainbow.
Green group hint: San Fernando ____.
Blue group hint: Think Robert.
Purple group hint: Mixed-up hue words.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Tint.
Green group: Valley.
Blue group: Bobs.
Purple group: Color anagrams.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is tint. The four answers are color, hue, shade and tone.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is valley. The four answers are dale, dell, glen and hollow.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is Bobs. The four answers are Dole, Hope, Marley and Ross.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is color anagrams. The four answers are Dre (red), Gary (gray), genre (green) and lube (blue).
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 26, #215
Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 215, for Saturday, April 26.
Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.
Connections: Sports Edition is tough today. The purple category theme threw me because of one phrase I didn’t know. And let’s hope you’re familiar with college coach surnames. Read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.
Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta
Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Try to achieve.
Green group hint: Move through it.
Blue group hint: Sideline bosses.
Purple group hint: Like a carton.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: What one strives for.
Green group: Room to run.
Blue group: College football coaches.
Purple group: Box ____.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is what one strives for. The four answers are aim, goal, objective and target.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is room to run. The four answers are gap, hole, opening and space.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is college football coaches. The four answers are Day, Lanning, Smart and Stoops.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is box ____. The four answers are lacrosse, office, score and seat.
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