The global short-form video platform TikTok announced on the 16th that it has established partnerships with The Blue Tree Foundation(BTF) and Tacteennaeil to promote a safe digital life and enhance mental health for teenagers. The Blue Tree Foundation(BTF) is a non-profit organization that works on social change such as school violence prevention and victim counseling and healing, while Tacteennaeil advocates for children’s and adolescents' sexual rights through victim support, research, and legal system improvements.
This partnership was initiated to proactively address various issues that teenagers experience online, such as digital dependency, cyberbullying, and digital sexual crimes, and to create a safe platform environment. The Blue Tree Foundation(BTF) and Tacteennaeil will collaborate with TikTok to enhance its response to online safety issues for teenagers and improve and develop safety resources such as effective campaigns and community guidelines.
Each organization will provide advice on TikTok’s ▲harmful content ▲search guidelines ▲youth safety regulations. Together with TikTok, they plan to educate teenagers and guardians on proper digital etiquette and appropriate responses in case of various harms.
TikTok will establish educational sessions to help The Blue Tree Foundation(BTF) and Tacteennaeil effectively utilize TikTok, assisting advocates in enhancing their digital capabilities so that teenage users can receive advice from professional advocates at any time through the TikTok Safety Center, which will open a counseling channel for the organizations. Furthermore, TikTok plans to continue its youth safety campaign throughout the year to support both teenagers and parents in using TikTok safely.
Lucy Chesterton, head of the partnerships for TikTok’s Trust and Safety Team in the Asia-Pacific region, noted, “The difficulties that teenagers face have changed significantly, just like the rapid change in technology. With the help of The Blue Tree Foundation(BTF) and Tacteennaeil, I hope TikTok will come one step closer to understanding the potential risks that teenagers face in South Korea’s online environment and providing practical assistance.”
Park Gil-sung, chairman of The Blue Tree Foundation(BTF), said, “The official partnership established this year through years of collaboration is the beginning of a new chapter and an opportunity for the two organizations to come a step closer to resolving the issues we face in creating a safe online environment. I expect that together we will achieve meaningful results that are essential in this day and age in the near future.”
Lee Hyun-sook, the executive director of Tacteennaeil, stated, “Creating a safe online environment has limitations with just government regulations, and it can be strengthened through corporate self-regulation efforts and cooperation with civil society. I believe that this partnership with TikTok can become a good model, and I hope we can achieve good results to help spread this model.”