Chinese-owned firm caught in geopolitical standoff, with US lawmakers leading charge against it
is clear that it accesses, among other things, your email address, your contacts, your direct messages, payment details and location. That’s not substantially different from other social media apps like Instagram. But other social media apps don’t have to be as squeaky clean in the way that TikTok does if it is to allay fears.Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty ImagesSecurity isn’t the only issue facing TikTok – there are growing anxieties about the effect it has on users’ mental health.
“[To make sure] they don’t get taken down, the video itself, what they do is they say: ‘Look in the comments for this.’ So, it’s just music playing in the background, an empty screen and look at the comments. You open up the comments and the comments section is full of these random people giving you eating disorder tips … And it’s like sharing stuff in secret ways that I’ve realised, yes, people are really good at finding stuff like that.
The report’s lead author, Prof Sonia Livingstone at the London School of Economics, says even well-balanced teens that she talks to struggle to “pull away” from the app. She adds: “Young people tell me over and again that they have a sense of compulsion to stay on the app, to see the next thing and the next thing, because the videos are short, attention grabbing and because they are popular.”
A TikTok spokesperson said the company aimed to make the app “a place where people can share their true selves, raise awareness for important causes and find community”. Indeed, the EU-backed mental health report flags how TikTok can help people in recovery from eating disorders. The company also announced this month that teenagers joiningwould be limited to an hour of use each day, although the restriction can be altered or removed entirely in the app’s settings.
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