TikTok 'bombards' youths with self-harm and eating disorder videos

TikTok ‘bombards’ teenagers with self-harm videos and information on eating disorders, report says

• Researchers set up accounts posing as young girls and ‘liked’ harmful content
• The Chinese-owned app then pushed mental health and body image videos
• Videos referencing suicide were served to one account within 2.6 minutes
• Imran Ahmed, chief exec of CCDH, said TikTok was ‘poisoning’ children’s minds

TikTok is ‘bombarding’ teens with videos about eating disorders and self-harm within minutes of them signing up, a report has claimed. 

Researchers set up accounts posing as 13-year-old girls and ‘liked’ harmful content whenever it was recommended. 

The Chinese-owned social media giant’s algorithm then began pushing videos about mental health and body image, they said. Videos referencing suicide were served to one account within 2.6 minutes, while eating disorder content was served to one account within eight minutes, found the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The NGO added that eating disorder videos on TikTok had over 13.2billion views. 

A charity set up by the family of Molly Russell yesterday endorsed the report for ‘exposing the underlying toxic content that infects so much of social media’. 

 Researchers claim TikTok is ‘bombarding’ teens with videos about eating disorders and self-harm within minutes of them signing up to the social media app

TikTok said it had removed videos and hashtags flagged in the report but said the test ‘does not reflect the genuine behaviour or viewing experiences of real people’. 

Imran Ahmed, chief executive of CCDH, said TikTok was ‘poisoning’ children’s minds. 

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