31 per cent of teens negatively affected by hoax challenges on TikTok - report
TikTok has vowed to increase efforts to
deter dangerous hoaxes on the app following the launch of a new report that
identified 31 per cent of challenges on the platform as having affected teens
negatively.
Despite the TikTok-commissioned report
titled ‘Exploring effective prevention education responses to dangerous
online challenges’ labeling majority of the challenges as fun and
safe, some promote harmful behaviors including the risk of serious injury or
even suicide.
The report describes hoax challenges as a
subcategory of dangerous challenges where the element of challenge is fake, but
they are designed to be frightening and traumatic.
When asked to describe a recent online
challenge, 14 per cent of the 10,000 surveyed teens described the challenges as
risky and dangerous. Just 0.3 per cent said they had taken part in a challenge
they categorised as really dangerous.
The report also notes that 3 per cent of
challenges on the platform are unsafe with 63 per cent of the respondents
saying the challenges affected them mentally.
It raised a worrying finding that highlighted
how parents find it difficult to discuss the hoaxes with their children without
creating interest into the hoaxes.
“We heard too how caregivers aren't sure how
to talk to teens about these hoaxes. They worry that if they mention the name
of the hoax, their teen could become aware of potentially harmful behaviour
they previously had no knowledge of,” TikTok said.
“56 per cent of parents said they wouldn't
mention a self-harm hoax unless a teen had mentioned it first, and 37 per cent
of parents felt hoaxes are difficult to talk about without prompting interest
in them,” read the report.
With the research highlighting how warnings
about self harm hoaxes can affect teens who assume they are real, TikTok has
decided to remove alarmist warnings from its platform in an effort
to dispel panic and promote accurate information.
The Shenzen-headquartered company has
similarly augmented enforcement measures to combat the challenges.
“The platform has created technology that
alerts safety teams to sudden increases in violating content linked to
hashtags, and we have now expanded this to also capture potentially dangerous
behavior,” the company said.
TikTok has also unveiled new resources such
as its safety to support the community in combating the worrying trend.
“Through this first step and the
encouragement of discourse on the subject, TikTok aims to use this work with
world-leading experts to make a thoughtful contribution to safety and
safeguarding of families online. TikTok will continue to explore and implement
additional measures on behalf of the community,” added the social media
company.
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