TikTok wants to help people unplug, but not everyone wants a digital detox

Feeling like you’ve overdone it on the scrolling? Now you can take a break from TikTok to meditate, without ever leaving the app.

TikTok’s new in-app meditation feature, announced Thursday, was first tested earlier this year with a group of teen users and is now rolling out to everyone. Designed to improve sleep quality, the meditations activate during designated “sleep hours” and serve as a gentle nudge to put the phone down during a late-night scroll session.

For users under 18, the feature is enabled by default. If teens are still on the app after 10 p.m., their For You feed will be interrupted by calming music and breathing exercises. If ignored, the prompt returns to remind them it’s time for bed. Adults who want a similar reminder can set their own bedtime in TikTok’s Screen Time settings.

Although the meditation can be skipped, TikTok says 98% of teens who encountered it during testing chose to keep it on. Still, not everyone appreciated the intervention. “I disabled it ima scroll how long I want on my phone,” one TikTok user commented. “Why do they care how late we are on TikTok?” another asked. “To Instagram I go,” added a third.

The update comes amid growing scrutiny of TikTok’s impact on youth mental health. A 2024 Pew Research Center survey found that nearly half of U.S. teens say social media disrupts their sleep (45%) and hurts their productivity (40%).

TikTok is also facing lawsuits that claim it prioritized profit over safety by downplaying the effects of its “addictive algorithm.” Previous attempts to limit screen time haven’t always worked. Court documents show teens were still spending an average of 107 minutes per day on the app, even when a 60-minute limit was in place.

As part of the rollout, TikTok also announced a $2.3 million donation in ad credits from its Mental Health Education Fund to 31 organizations, including Crisis Text Line, Active Minds, and the Alliance for Eating Disorders.

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