Man accused of slamming child barricades self at apartment in Tamiami: Sheriffs

TikTok disclosed that the meditation feature aimed at improving sleep quality is triggered during sleep hours and will be turned on by default for users under the age of The announcement comes amid masses pressure and lawsuits concerning the app s impacts on young users Plagued with lawsuits and charges of harming users mental physical condition especially that of children social media sensation TikTok is turning to meditation to promote wellness and deter late-night doomscrolling TikTok disclosed last month that it was launching in-app guided meditation exercises and other well-being features aimed at young users The company owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance declared it began testing the new meditation exercises with select teens earlier this year and will now make them available to users of all ages TikTok announced that the meditation feature aimed at improving sleep quality is triggered during sleep hours and will be turned on by default for users under the age of If these young users are on the app after p m their For You feed will be interrupted by the guided meditation exercise If a teen continues to use TikTok after the first reminder the company will show a second full-screen meditation prompt The meditation app was teased earlier this week along with other features such as new educational feeds online safety tools and enhanced parental controls over screen time TikTok s fresh focus on promoting healthier digital habits for young users comes amid inhabitants pressure and a slew of lawsuits concerning the platform s impact on young users A bipartisan group of more than a dozen state attorneys general last year filed lawsuits against TikTok related to the app s effects on young users One such suit from Attorney General Brian Schwalb of the District of Columbia alleged that TikTok was intentionally addictive and psychologically damaging to kids posing profound risks including depression anxiety sleep loss and body dysmorphia A TikTok spokesperson previously advised CNBC that the lawsuit ignored proactive measures that the platform has voluntarily implemented to advocacy society safety and well-being Social psychologists have also advocated banning the app warning that TikTok and other social platforms can cause mental healthcare issues for children adolescents and young adults The social media platform briefly went offline in the U S in January after the Supreme Court upheld a law to ban it unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance sold its stake in the app However U S President Donald Trump used an executive order to keep the platform running and again delayed the enforcement of that ban last month Its long-term status remains undecided with ByteDance s new deadline to divest set for mid-June While Congress s ban of TikTok has been focused on the app s Chinese ownership and information and privacy concerns governments have also begun to target TikTok and other social media over their perceived ill effect on young users In November Australia s parliament passed a bill banning social media platforms from allowing users under to access their services threatening fines of up to AU million million In the U S TikTok says that users must be at least years old to create an account though there is a separate under- TikTok experience that offers additional safeguards The Justice Department and Federal Pact Commission filed a civil lawsuit against TikTok and ByteDance in August accusing them of collecting personal information from children under the age of and having insufficient policies and processes for identifying and deleting accounts created by children TikTok and ByteDance didn t at once respond to requests for comments On Thursday TikTok revealed it was also making a million donation in ad credits to mental wellness organizations in countries around the world as part of its Mental Wellness Learning Fund