TikTok is reportedly launching generative AI avatars

Image: Matt Navarra

TikTok might let you use AI-generated profile pictures (like Lensa), but it'll be within the app. Social media consultant Matt Navarra shared some of the leaked screenshots of the feature built into the app. The tool will supposedly ask you to submit three to ten photos before picking from two to five different styles that the eventual AI-made photos will look like. You then wait for the feature to generate your AI images before downloading them, setting them as one of your avatars or posting them on your TikTok story.

Source

TikTok Series puts premium content behind a paywall

Image: TikTok

TikTok's Creator Fund isn't the most lucrative source of income on the platform. In fact, creators only make around USD 0.02 and USD 0.04 (approx. CAD 0.028 and CAD 0.055) for every 1,000 views. So, the platform is introducing a new way for creators to earn. TikTok Series allows eligible creators to post Collections of premium content behind a paywall. Collections are typically a group of 80 videos that are around 20 minutes long. You can charge between USD 0.99 to USD 189.99 (~CAD 1.37 to CAD 262).

TikTok told Mashable that for a "limited time" creators will receive 100% of the money after platform and processing fees. Viewers can buy access to the Collections via direct in-video links or through a creator's profile. It's unclear what makes a creator eligible to participate in a Series. But TikTok says its application process for the feature will roll out in the coming months.

TikTok sets a default 60-minute daily screen time limit for teens

Photo: Obi - @pixel7propix/Unsplash

TikTok will enable a daily screen time limit for users under 18 years. (You must be at least 13 years old to use TikTok.) When young users hit the 60-minute limit, TikTok will ask them to enter a passcode to continue using the service for the day. This feature will be turned on by default, but there will be an opt-out option. It will be coming to users "in the coming weeks."

Click to read more ...

Canada bans TikTok use on government devices

Photo: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash

Canada is banning the use of TikTok from all government-issued devices starting Tuesday. This decision follows a review by Canada's chief information officer, saying the app "presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security." TikTok expressed disappointment over the decision and refuted that the ban happened "without citing any specific security concerns about TikTok or contacting us to discuss any concern prior to making this decision." The Canadian government's decision comes days after the European Commission imposed a similar ban. The app will be removed from government-issued phones this week. And it will be blocked from downloads in the future.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was enough concern about security around the app to impose the change. "This may be the first step, this may be the only step we need to take," he said during a press conference on Monday near Toronto. Canadian privacy regulators are also investigating the video app over concerns about user data and how the company obtains "valid and meaningful" consent from users when collecting personal information. According to a recent survey by researchers at the Social Media Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University, around a quarter of Canadian adults use TikTok.

Source