TikTok Shop Suddenly Appears in Children's Feed Due to App Glitches

The TikTok Shop tab reportedly appeared in its underage users' feeds despite the platform's policy restricting e-commerce for users aged under 18.

First spotted by TechCrunch, the TikTok Shop tab was spotted beside the "Following" tab in a newly-made account for a supposed minor with the platform's parental control enabled.

The e-commerce tab was only blocked when the parental control system enabled the "Restricted Mode," although the content settings reportedly restarted when reopening the app.

Turning off the platform's dedicated "STEM" feed also results in the Shop tab, which is often filled with products only intended for adults, being exposed to children.

TechCrunch did not mention whether these issues are also present on TikTok's web platform.

In response, TikTok encouraged users to use its report tool for underaged users able to bypass its age restrictions, although the platform did not indicate plans to fix these loopholes.

TikTok Remains Under Scrutiny for Online Child Safety Measures

TechCrunch's report on the various loopholes in TikTok's underage restriction policies came as the platform faces scrutiny amid growing child safety concerns on its app.

TikTok was among the several social media giants that previously appeared at the Senate hearing to testify on lawmakers' inquiries about the companies' measures around protecting their underaged users from sexual exploitation, harassment, bullying, and predators.

TikTok has since been reported to coordinate with digital child protection groups, although several agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, are still pursuing the platform over alleged child privacy violations.

How to Keep Away TikTok Shop from Children's Feed

As TechCrunch found from the series of safety tests conducted on the app, the best way to protect children from accessing the TikTok tab on the app is to ensure all safety measures are enabled.

This would mean ensuring that the user filled in their age correctly, pairing it with the in-app's parental control system, and ensuring that the "Restricted Mode" remains enabled.