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/CNET

You’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.

Blocking people on TikTok — Block someone’s account so they can’t see your profile, send you messages and more.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Not 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

Private account setting on TikTok — If your TikTok account is private, only those you accept as friends will be able to see your videos.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

After 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

Video downloads setting on TikTok — There are still other ways to download videos from TikTok, especially with third-party services.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Unfortunately, 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.

Reporting a video on TikTok — You can report TikTok accounts, videos, comments and other improper behavior.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

You 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

Setting to stop suggesting your account to others on TikTok — By default, your account is suggested to other people on TikTok.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Your 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.

Comments settings on TikTok — Don’t like what’s going on in your comment section? Use these settings to manage it.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Restrict 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.

Mentions and tags settings on TikTok — You can restrict who mentions and tags you on TikTok

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

An 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.

Direct messages settings on TikTok — Don’t let just anyone send you a direct message.

Nelson Aguilar

Restrict 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.

Duet and Stitch settings on TikTok — The Duet and Stitch features are fun, but they can also get out of control.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

If 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.

Following list and liked videos settings on TikTok — Just because you follow accounts and like videos doesn’t mean the whole world needs to know it.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

If 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

Brent Crude Surges Beyond $90 Following U.S. Strike on Iranian Launchers

Oil prices surged past $90 after U.S. forces targeted Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, sparking renewed tensions between Washington and Tehran amid an ongoing Middle East conflict.

International crude oil prices surged on Monday following U.S. forces targeting two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, signaling a resumption of hostilities between Washington and Tehran.

Brent crude futures for September delivery rose 3.3% to $90.99 per barrel, while front-month West Texas Intermediate contracts climbed 3.6% to $86.36.

“Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, stated that U.S. forces had indeed struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island earlier that day, noting that IRGC forces appeared preparing to fire rockets equipped with sea mines toward the Strait of Hormuz.”

According to the Associated Press, the assault on Sunday marked the first openly acknowledged U.S. operation against Iranian positions since late July.

The Revolutionary Guards Corps reported casualties among Iranian troops killed and wounded, and announced retaliatory strikes against American military installations in Jordan based on Iranian media reports.

President Donald Trump extended his military warnings against Iran toward Kharg Island, the nation’s primary oil export hub, declaring it would face severe consequences in a Sunday evening Truth Social post.

Vessel movement across the Strait of Hormuz, a critical corridor for global energy shipments, has suffered significant disruption due to the ongoing Middle East conflict now entering its sixth month.

“Supply risk will persist and oil inventories will continue to deplete in the coming weeks and months,” said Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM Oil Associates, adding that “the Iranian crisis has likely altered the security landscape in the Middle East.”

Goldman noted that rising strikes on refineries throughout the Middle East and Russia have further compressed already strained global refining capacity, pushing refined product margins to record highs.

—Verum’s Anniek Bao contributed to the report.

Technologies

Icelanders reject reopening talks to join the EU despite Trump’s Greenland threats

Icelanders voted 52.8% to 47.2% against reopening talks to join the European Union.

Icelanders voted to reject resuming talks to join the European Union, as issues such as domestic control over fishing appeared to override geopolitical security concerns.

Broadcaster RUV reported that 52.8% of voters rejected the government’s push to reopen EU membership negotiations, while 47.2% voted in favor.

The question put to the Nordic nation of nearly 400,000 was whether Iceland should resume accession negotiations with the European Union.

A majority “yes” vote would have led to a negotiated agreement being put to a second referendum for Icelanders to accept or reject.

The debate has taken on deeper significance in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Arctic saber-rattling.

But in the end, concern over the potential loss of control over its fishing industry and an erosion of national identity won out over how Iceland might be affected by geopolitical rivalries.

“The ‘No’ side succeeded because it tapped into the most fundamental driver of Icelandic national identity: the demand for absolute self-governance. This is inextricably linked to control over natural resources and fisheries, which forms the very heart of the Icelandic understanding of sovereignty,” said Eiríkur Bergmann, professor of politics at Iceland’s Bifröst University.

Fishing’s share of Iceland’s broader economy has declined over the decades, even as seafood remains a major export industry.

Marine products and farmed fish made up nearly 47% of the country’s exports in the August 2025-July 2026 period, according to Statistics Iceland.

But production halved from a peak of 2.2 million tons in 1997 to 1.1 million tons in 2024, World Bank data show. Agriculture, forestry and fishing contributed 9.1% of Iceland’s gross domestic product in 1995, but only 3.7% by 2025, as manufacturing and services grew in importance.

Greenland or Iceland?

The U.S. president has long advocated for control over neighboring Greenland on national security grounds. Notably, Trump appeared to repeatedly mix up Greenland and Iceland during a special address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland earlier in the year.

Iceland, a founding member of NATO, is the only ally without its own military forces. The country also sits astride the so-called GIUK Gap, a naval choke point between Greenland, Iceland and the U.K. that links the Arctic to the Atlantic Ocean.

The country applied to join the EU in 2009 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. A euroskeptic government suspended negotiations in 2013, and the accession process was formally ended in 2015.

It’s already deeply integrated into the European framework, partly through its membership of the European Economic Area, which gives the volcanic island access to the EU’s single market without requiring full membership.

It’s also a member of the Schengen Area, which allows passport-free travel between it and other participating European countries.

At the start of the year, Iceland’s Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Gunnarsdottir said that deeper dialogue and collaboration with the EU would be a key factor in shoring up the country’s interests.

“It is clear that the international system we have lived in since the end of World War II is in turmoil,” Gunnarsdottir said in an article for Icelandic newspaper Visir, according to a Google translation.

“What is perhaps most striking about this referendum is that despite the profound geopolitical upheaval around us – including rapidly shifting security paradigms in the North Atlantic – these global realities never really filtered properly through into the public debate,” Bifröst University’s Bergmann said.

“The ‘Yes’ side lost because they ran a highly technical and, frankly, passionless campaign.”

—CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this story.

Technologies

U.S. and Iran Trade Strikes for First Time Since July as Trump Warns of Bombing Iran’s Key Oil Hub

The United States and Iran have exchanged attacks for the first time in over a month, escalating their conflict and sparking concerns of wider hostilities, while oil prices rose above $90 per barrel amid heightened tensions.

The United States and Iran have exchanged attacks for the first time in more than a month, signaling a significant escalation in their conflict and heightening concerns of additional hostilities.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced on Monday that it carried out an assault on two American bases in Jordan, retaliating for a U.S. strike on Larak Island that occurred over the weekend, according to Iranian media.

On Sunday, U.S. forces targeted two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island after the military indicated that the Guard was getting ready to fire rockets equipped with sea mines toward the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command confirmed.

Larak, a diminutive Iranian island situated in the Strait of Hormuz, has turned into a crucial military and maritime hub for Tehran, enabling the Guard to oversee vessel traffic along one of the globe’s most vital sea lanes.

“Earlier today, U.S. forces hit two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, while Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel were observed preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines toward the Strait of Hormuz,” Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, said in a statement.

Last week, CENTCOM finished clearing sea mines from the strait’s international shipping lanes. U.S. forces are closely monitoring the area and remain ready to safeguard the free flow of commerce through this vital waterway,” he said.

Sunday’s attack marked the first publicly acknowledged U.S. strike on Iranian positions since late July, and the conflict has now persisted for six months, sharply disrupting vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial conduit for worldwide energy shipments.

The recent escalation in military activity drove oil prices above $90 per barrel, as market participants kept a close watch on the potential for renewed supply disruptions in the Middle East.

In the meantime, U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday broadened his military threats against Iran to include Kharg Island, the nation’s primary oil export terminal, and posted an AI‑generated video on his Truth Social platform showing the hub being bombed, declaring it would be “blown to smithereens.”

No evidence of an attack on Kharg Island was found, and an Iranian official reportedly dismissed Trump’s post as laughable.

On Monday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard reported that a supertanker ignited and became disabled in the southern Strait of Hormuz after striking two naval mines, asserting that the vessel was not adhering to Iran’s passage regulations, according to Iranian media. The Guard’s navy also urged ships to comply with its safety rules for navigating the waterway.

Separately, Iran’s Foreign Ministry stated on Monday that the United States and its allies bear “full responsibility” for the fallout from the escalation and will respond decisively to any further military aggression by the “enemy.”

The Guard said the U.S. strike on Larak Island killed and wounded several Iranian soldiers and that it has retaliated with attacks on American military bases in Jordan, according to Iranian media. The combined missile and drone operation struck the King Hussein and Al Azraq bases, as reported by media.

The strikes “destroyed the technical and repair infrastructure and the enemy fighter deployment sites,” inflicting “heavy damage,” Iranian military forces reportedly said, while pledging increasingly forceful responses.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that the country is pursuing a diplomatic agreement to end the conflict, noting that continued war “serves neither our interests nor those of the region or humanity.”

Speaking alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kyrgyzstan, Pezeshkian said on Monday that the U.S. side “has not fulfilled its commitments,” according to state media.

The U.S. Navy has maintained a blockade of Iranian ports, aiming to pressure the regime into reopening the waterway, while Iran has continued to target vessels that do not use the northern shipping lane near its coast.

Another tanker was hit by an unknown projectile while moving inbound through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre, which reported no casualties and advised vessels to proceed with caution.