– It’s not fun to watch. When it comes up that people, for example, cut their arms, I think why in the world is this on TikTok? That’s what 16-year-old Leah Al-ameer says. Videos with gloomy themes often come up on the popular social media, according to her and her friends Cristina Lønning Herland and Tiril Knutsen. – If you “like” the video, there will be many similar ones. But sometimes it comes without you also “liking”, says Lönning Herland. Christina Lønning Herland has several videos with a gloomy theme on her “For you” page. Photo: Simon Elias Bogen / news Young people confirm the findings of two new Amnesty reports. They show that TikTok exposes children and young people to harmful content linked to self-harm and suicide. Main findings from the reports Sources: Amnesty, Algorithmic Transparency Institute (ATI) and National Conference on Citizenship and AI Forensics. – Being led into a rabbit hole The reports are about what it’s like to be a child and young person on TikTok if you have a mental problem and at the same time show an interest in mental health in the app. – We see that vulnerable children and young people are very quickly led into a rabbit hole of content that can be harmful to them, says Ingrid Stolpestad, political adviser at Amnesty. Some content deals with or romanticises depression and self-harm. Ingrid Westgaard Stolpestad is a political adviser at Amnesty. Photo: Amnesty International Norway Amnesty believes that TikTok’s business model is problematic because it prioritizes engagement in order to make it more difficult for users to log out. At the same time, the app collects more and more personal data. The Danish Data Protection Authority is concerned Senior adviser in the Danish Data Protection Authority, Trine Smedbold, wrote in an e-mail to news that they are concerned about the content children and young people may be exposed to on TikTok. – Harmful content that is spread in the app has already had serious consequences for children. In 2021, a ten-year-old Italian girl died after trying a viral challenge she saw in the app. The Italian Data Protection Authority subsequently ordered TikTok to block user accounts whose age they could not verify. TikTok has also received a fine of 345 million euros for breaching the privacy regulations when it comes to the processing of children’s personal data. Senior advisor Trine Smebold in the Norwegian Data Protection Authority. Photo: Ilja C. Hendel / Datatilsynet Smedbold also points out that there is legislation that requires TikTok and other large platforms to improve children’s privacy and experience in the app. – With the Digital Services Act in the EU and EEA, users between the ages of 13 and 17 will no longer see personalized marketing based on their activity on or off TikTok. You should also be able to turn off personalization of the “For you” page. As many as 73 percent of Norwegian children and young people between the ages of 9 and 18 use the popular app, according to a survey by the Norwegian Media Authority in 2022. Photo: Simon Elias Bogen / news Believes that TikTok will take action Amnesty challenges TikTok to change its algorithms in order to protect the vulnerable young people who use the app. – They must change the way the “For you” feed works. They need to stop tracking young people to give them hyper-personalized content all the time. Alternatively, they can ask users what they are interested in, and give them content based on that, says Stolpestad. She points out that many are concerned about the consequences of such videos. – I have to believe that TikTok wants to operate in a way that makes their platform a good place for young people, not a potentially bad place. I think it is possible. They also want to challenge the authorities, who can introduce stricter legislation that protects children. Daily tenant in Barnevakten, Leif Gunnar Vestbøstad Vik. Photo: Studio 1 photographers There will also be the non-profit foundation Barnevakt, which provides advice on children and the medium. – The daycare center has sent an input to the family and culture committee where we ask the politicians to introduce regulations so that children under the age of 13 are not allowed to create an account, writes the day-to-day head of the daycare centre, Leif Gunnar Vestbøstad Vik, to news. – It is said that TikTok’s algorithms are the most powerful in the world, and that users can more easily become addicted to TikTok than other social media. TikTok is aware of the challenges and has introduced settings where users can limit time and content themselves, he writes further. The babysitter wants to make users aware of turning on the settings, so that the users themselves have control over their own use. news has tried to get in touch with TikTok, which has not responded to our inquiries. – They are everywhere The 16-year-olds are also asking TikTok to introduce stricter restrictions. – These videos should be deleted by TikTok. It’s not good for minors either, because then they think it’s okay to do it. Suddenly they hurt themselves. You have to have stricter rules, says Leah Al-ameer. Leah Al-ameer calls for stricter restrictions in the app. Photo: Simon Elias Bogen / news Tiril Knutsen is also worried about the younger children who are exposed to these videos. – It is not right to watch videos about self-harm or suicide. They may think that they should do it too. TikTok has a thing that makes them delete such videos, but they don’t. They are everywhere. Tiril Knutsen has learned that TikTok itself has guidelines for what is okay to share, but she still receives videos that deal with self-harm. Photo: Simon Elias Bogen / news TikTok’s response to Amnesty Amnesty writes that TikTok has shown them their guidelines, which determine what types of content are prohibited. If it is reported or otherwise identified, the videos will be removed from the platform. This includes a ban on content that “shows, promotes or gives instructions about suicide and self-harm, as well as related challenges, games and agreements”, “shows or promotes suicide and self-harm jokes” and “sharing plans about suicide and self-harm”. According to Amnesty, TikTok has stated that they are in the process of developing a process for human rights assessments that will include the implementation of human rights impact assessments. Source: Amnesty
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Many videos about suicide and self-harm – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
