How to protect your TikTok account from being used by others and remove hate comments

Like all online communities ever, TikTok is not just a platform for cool vloggers and their fans. It is also home to haters, spammers and scammers. And it is vital that you keep your account safe from them.

A man walks by a TikTok ad in China. Like all online communities ever, TikTok is not just a platform for cool vloggers and their fans. It is also home to haters, spammers and scammers. And it is vital that you keep your account safe from them. (REUTERS)

Millions across the world are using TikTok every day to share their videos. While some are doing it to create content and get social, others are doing it to get popular.

But like all online communities ever, TikTok is not just a platform for cool vloggers and their fans. It is also home to haters, spammers and scammers. And it is vital that you keep your account safe from them. Kaspersky, the cyber security expert and anti-virus provider has a bunch of suggestions for you.

Does TikTok offer two-factor authentication?

Many social networks and services help secure users against password theft. Enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) adds an extra layer of protection. If 2FA is enabled, in addition to your password, the app requires a one-time code that it sends on request in SMS, for example.

TikTok has no such setting, only the log in with verification code option. In this case TikTok sends you a one-time access code in a text message. However, that's not two-factor authentication; the code doesn't complement your password but rather replaces it.

Simply put, if you have the code, you can log in to your account without a password.

This solution is not perfect, because codes sent by SMS are far from the most reliable protection — although at least TikTok's approach will save you if your password gets stolen; without that code no one can log in from an unfamiliar device. One other thing - remember to unlink TikTok from your phone number if you plan to change it.

If you sign in through Facebook or another social network, TikTok won't send anything. The app simply trusts other services. So you must ,ake sure your Facebook account is properly protected.

How to find out if someone is using your TikTok account

Let's say you logged in from someone else's device and forgot to log out. Or you fear your account might have been hacked. Checking to see whether someone else is using your TikTok account is easy:

•Tap Manage devices to see which phones your TikTok account is open on.

•Log out devices that you do not use by tapping the 'trash can' icon next to the relevant gadget in the list and selecting Remove.

•For safety, change your account password.

How to remove your profile from recommendations

By default, TikTok recommends your profile to other users if its algorithm finds your clips interesting or recognises you as familiar to them. Even private accounts can wind up in the recommendations. That might happen, for example, if you have friends in common with another user or they have your phone number.

If you want to avoid getting into any recommendations whatsoever, block the app from inviting others to follow you. To do so, turn off 'Allow others to find me' in the privacy settings.

How to get rid of spam and hate in comments

Unfortunately, not all users mean well. Some TikTokers are there to shower others with ads or insults.

To keep the comments section under your videos from becoming a complete mess, you can set some restrictions in place. The easiest is blocking outsiders from discussing your clips. To do so, under 'Who can post comments' select 'Friends' or 'Off'.

TikTok also lets you disable comments under a specific video. To do so, open the video, tap the three dots at the bottom right, and select Privacy settings. On the settings page that opens, tap 'Turn off comments for this video'.

If, however, you want viewers to be able to speak their minds about your clips, but you do not want to manually remove spam and hate in the comments, try configuring a keyword filter. To do so:

•Tap Comment filters.

•Enable Filter spam and offensive comments. This is TikTok's automatic moderator.

•Turn on Filter keywords and specify words and phrases you don't want to see next to your videos. The robot will hide comments that contain them.