TikTok Is Poison: TikTok is the most popular social media app among children in the U.S., with 41% of American children using TikTok for an average of 120 minutes or 2 hours per day. Several studies which created new TikTok accounts as if they were the accounts of children found that within minutes of scrolling they were being exposed to videos about suicide.
Children are exposed to dangerous content early and frequently. Accounts registered as 13-year-olds were exposed to content that normalized suicide within 2.6 minutes of using the app and content promoting eating disorders within 8 minutes. Suicide-related hashtags produced more than 1.43 million posts and 8.8 billion views.
TikTok is also known for promoting dangerous “challenges” to minor users like the “Blackout Challenge,” which encourages users to choke themselves to the point of blacking out. You can see a comprehensive list.
On TikTok, China has control. The app collects and stores users’ data, including location and financial information. FBI Director Chris Wray says that China can control the app’s recommendation algorithm “which allows them to manipulate content, and if they want to, to use it for influence operations.”
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
OTHER NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW:
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to ban TikTok in the U.S. The House of Representatives voted to ban TikTok in the U.S. as part of a larger foreign aid package. Read more.
The U.S. Senate quickly passed the TikTok ban bill, and President Biden signed it into law. The law specifies that the ban will take effect in January 2025 if the Chinese-owned tech company ByteDance does not divest from TikTok before then. Read more.
Legislation in the U.S. would force TikTok to divest from China or be banned in the U.S. Alleigh Marré joined Good Morning America to discuss the dangers of TikTok. Watch here.
Thanks for reading the latest edition of the American Parents Coalition’s Lookout Bulletin. If you have a troubling story to share about a school, doctor, company, or other institution working to usurp parents’ rights, please let us know by emailing us at [email protected].
