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TikTok has announced an upgrade in a number of its features, to incorporate new and enhanced updates, safety features, and policies.

The entertainment platform said the new features are aimed at building trust and enriching experiences of content creators.

“Whether just getting started, or looking to try out a new feature, we want to ensure creators feel excited and ready to go LIVE with a few best practices and tips, along with our latest product and policy updates,” TikTok says in a statement.

“To make way for more meaningful connections with audiences, we’ve recently upgraded our Multi-Guest feature. Through Multi-Guest, hosts can now go LIVE with up to 5 guests using a grid or panel layout, keeping audiences engaged as they respond to questions, host how-to videos, or simply share a moment together with the community,” the statement adds.

TikTok is home to a diverse global ecosystem of people and culture – creators, communities, and trends – all driving entertaining content and building connections.

Its popular, TikTok LIVE brings people together through content that entertains and inspires, providing creators an opportunity to show up as their most authentic selves as they forge meaningful connections and share a window into their lives with a global community – all in real time.

Once LIVE, creators can tap the three dots to change a variety of settings. This includes the ability to flip the camera, add effects and stickers, filter comments, and add moderators if they haven’t already been assigned.

TikTok says its foundation is built on community trust and safety.

“To protect our users and creators and support their well-being, we constantly work to evolve the safeguards we put in place. Today, we’re making additional changes and improvements to help our community have the best experience possible when they use LIVE,” TikTok says.

Currently, people must be aged 16 or over to host a LIVE. From November 23, the minimum age will increase from 16 to 18. As TikTok considers the breadth of its global audience.

The video-sharing site notes that it has already take a graduated approach to the features that its community can access based on their age; younger teens need to be aged 16 or older to access Direct Messaging and 18 or older to send virtual gifts or access monetisation features.

In addition, in the coming weeks, TikTok plans to introduce a new way for creators to choose if they’d prefer to only reach an adult audience in their LIVE. For instance, perhaps a comedy routine is better suited for people over age 18. Or, a host may plan to talk about a difficult life experience and they would feel more comfortable knowing the conversation is limited to adults.

“We want our community to make the most of the opportunities LIVE can bring without compromising on safety. We believe these industry-leading updates can further protect the younger members of our community as they start and build their online presence,” the statement adds.

To help creators focus on entertaining and engaging their viewers, LIVE creators can already use TikTok’s keyword filtering tool to limit comments they feel aren’t appropriate.

And in the coming weeks, the site will be rolling out an updated version of this feature that will send a reminder to people and suggest new keywords they may want to consider adding to their filter list.

To do this, the tool looks at the content a creator most commonly removes from their LIVE, spotting similar words in these comments and then suggesting the host may want to add these words to their filter list.

“When we tested this feature, we found that it nearly doubled those using keyword filtering when looking at the most popular LIVE creators. As always, we have a suite of safety features to help people stay in control throughout their live streaming and troubleshoot problems as they come up. We have a vibrant and inspiring community on TikTok, and it’s important that our platform remains a safe, supportive, and joyful place for our community.”