TikTok's algorithm encourage young users to self-harm and develop eating disorders: Researchers

The algorithms of TikTok are encouraging teenage people to watch videos about self-harm and eating disorders, according to a report that was published on Wednesday, December 14. According to reports, researchers at the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate created TikTok profiles for bogus young personalities in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia (CCDH). The researchers behind the accounts liked videos with eating problems and self-harm to see how TikTok's algorithm could react. The team asserts that the short-form video app began promoting films on weight loss and self-harm, including ones with images of models, razor blades, and suicide content, in a matter of minutes. [caption id="attachment_71931" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Image Credits: TikTok[/caption] When the researchers created identities with user names that alluded to a particular propensity for eating disorders, such as names that included the phrase "reduce weight," the accounts were exposed to even more unsuitable content. Social media algorithms work by identifying the subjects and content that a user is interested in, and then providing them more of it so they may stay on the site as long as possible. The same algorithms that emphasise content related to a particular interest, according to critics, can also direct readers to unsuitable content. Younger users are more vulnerable to peer pressure, bullying, and hazardous information as they spend more time on online platforms, according to Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, who spoke to the AP. He added that other platforms, like TikTok, have also failed to protect underage users from objectionable material and intrusive data harvesting.