Kids on TikTok find the sunny app has a dark side

Highly personalised recommendations, driven by algorithms owned by the parent company ByteDance Ltd, often make it harder for parents to track what their children are seeing and for regulators to monitor what kids are being exposed to on the app. — AFP Relaxnews

TikTok is known primarily as a launchpad for funny memes, dance routines and lip-synching videos. The company embraces that reputation with a tagline, “the last sunny corner on the Internet”. But there’s a dark side to TikTok that engulfs some of the app’s youngest users.

Beneath the surface, TikTok also hosts videos promoting anorexia, bullying, suicide and sexual exploitation of minors. Highly personalised recommendations, driven by algorithms owned by the parent company ByteDance Ltd, often make it harder for parents to track what their children are seeing and for regulators to monitor what kids are being exposed to on the app.