A recent study has found that TikTok suggests violent and self-harm content to accounts of new teens, just minutes after they log into the popular social media app.
And according to the British “Sky News” website, research conducted by the Center for Combating Digital Hate in Britain showed that the video recommendation algorithm on TikTok suggests “videos of violence, suicide and eating disorder” a few minutes after the teenager opens a new account.
She explained that teenagers often come across this type of video within two to eight minutes.
"Vulnerable accounts are shown this type of video at a rate three times higher than large accounts, and are also exposed to extremist content," she added.
These results were confirmed by another investigation conducted by "Sky News" experts, highlighting that "harmful content" is being suggested by TikTok, although it was not explicitly researched.
Commenting on the study, the British Eating Disorders Association said the findings were "extremely concerning", calling on TikTok to "take urgent measures to protect users at risk".
For its part, the TikTok application says that the recommended videos to each user are based on a number of factors, such as video likes, followers, shares, and the language of the phone.
He added that the results obtained in the study "do not reflect the real behavior or viewing experiences of real people."