– This is shocking reading, but unfortunately I am not surprised. This shows how the algorithms in social media, and in this case TikTok, work in such a way that it is to the great detriment of particularly vulnerable children and young people, says Culture Minister Anette Trettebergstuen (Ap). news’s article “TikTok’s muscle power” documents how a 13-year-old user who wants to become more muscular is quickly served large amounts of one type of content. After five hours of swiping, his feed consists of 90 percent videos about building muscle: Trettebergstuen is alarmed at how fast it’s going. – This can potentially destroy the lives of children and young people forever, she says. – Disclaimer The world’s most downloaded app has previously received criticism for serving unhealthy amounts of, for example, exercise, dieting tips and depressive content. Last year, TikTok promised to work to avoid this: “Too much of anything, whether it’s animals, fitness tips or personal development, doesn’t fit with the diverse experience we want to create.” Trettebergstuen believes that TikTok does not follow through on its own promises. – It is appalling, it is a disclaimer of responsibility and it is harmful. This shows once again that we need stronger regulation of the tech giants, says the Minister of Culture. news has tried to get a comment from TikTok, but the company has not responded to our inquiries. Previously, TikTok stated the following to news: “We are concerned with promoting an environment where people can express themselves on various topics, but which also protects against possible challenging or triggering experiences.” – Right down to the age of nine, the Minister of Culture receives support from Maria Abrahamsen, also known as the “TikTok psychologist”. She notices that the platform that is increasing the most among children and young people is characterized by a body ideal in which boys should be very muscular. – Then there can quickly be a big gap between the body you actually have as a pubescent boy, and what you think is the ideal, she says. TikTok psychologist Maria Abrahamsen believes that boys report body pressure to a lesser extent than girls. Photo: Tom-Richard Hanssen Olsen / news Abrahamsen feels that it is mostly parents who get in touch and ask for advice on how they can help children who think a lot about exercise. And she notices that it is parents of ever-younger children who are asking. – Before, it was most common with those who were in puberty. Now we see that such eating disorders go down well into primary school age, i.e. all the way down to the age of nine, she says. Nordic countries will go further This autumn, the EU adopted the Digital Services Act (DSA), which is an attempt to tame the large technology companies. One of the points is greater transparency around the algorithms of the big technology companies. Culture Minister Anette Trettebergstuen says that work has been initiated at the Nordic level to look at what they can do to go further than the EU. Anette Trettebergstuen wants stronger regulation of the large technology companies. Photo: Anders Fehn/news – We in the Nordic countries are impatient and do not want children and young people to be exposed to this type of harmful content. So we are looking at separate Nordic regulations that can rein in these technology giants, she says. At the end of this week, Trettebergstuen will meet representatives from TikTok. The Minister of Culture has had similar meetings with Facebook and Google. – I will take up news’s case with them. The platform giants must take responsibility for protecting their young users in a better way than they do today, she says. In an earlier statement to news, TikTok has said the following: “We have launched a tool where you can automatically filter out videos with words or subject tags that you do not want to see on your For You or Following page. We encourage parents to explore this tool and our other safety features with their teens.”
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– This can destroy lives – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
