ROME - From Tuesday the video sharing social media platform TikTok will ban users under the age of 13 after a 10 year old girl died while attempting a ‘TikTok challenge’.

  The girl, who died in Palermo on Jan. 22, was attempting the ‘challenge’ that involved putting a belt around her neck and filming herself while she tried to see how long she could last without breathing. 

  The new restrictive guidelines are under the guidelines of the Italian Privacy Guarantor and the Personal Data Protection Authority.

  An investigation is ongoing into her death as it is unclear if she was broadcasting live or just planning to send the video to a few friends, and police do not know if someone had invited her to take part in the challenge.

  The platform will next Tuesday block all Italian users and then ask them to verify their age. Artificial intelligence will also be employed to find users under the age of 13, which has raised several debates about the need to balance the safety of children online with the need to protect their personal data. 

  TikTok have also announced the plan for a button on the app which users can press if they suspect another user to be under age, and have pledged to double the numbers of moderators of Italian language content on the app.

  From Feb. 4 the manufacturers of the app will be launching information campaigns aimed at both children and parents, concerned with the safety of children online as well as the effect the internet can have on young children.

  Alexandra Evans, head of child safety at TikTok, has said that “the safety of those that take part in the TikTok community is our absolute top priority.”

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