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TikTok 'directs child accounts to pornographic content within a few clicks'
- dentemple 1y ago> After a “small number of clicks” the researchers encountered pornographic content ranging from women flashing to penetrative sex. I (40m) don't think I've ever seen literal flashing or literal porn on TikTok, and my algorithm does like to throw in thirst content between my usual hobby stuff. Are they making the claim that showing porn is a normal behavior for TikTok's algorithm overall, or are they saying that this is something that specifically pervasive with child accounts?
- thehodge 1y agoAgreed, I've never even seen boobs on TikTok...
- elevation 1y agoA soccer mom I know shared that she once tried TikTok. Within seconds of installing the app, the algorithm was showing nsfw content. She uninstalled it. I assume that the offending content was popular but hadn’t been flagged yet and that the algorithm was just measuring her interest in a trending theme; it seems like it would be bad for business to intentionally run off mainstream users like that.
- mothballed 1y agoDoes TikTok direct what you see based on what other accounts you interact with are interested in? I would expect teenagers to have a different interest profile than your average 40 year old. I would expect algorithms to more or less unwittingly direct you to the kind of stuff your peers were interested in.
- netruk44 1y agoTikTok’s recommendations are based off as much info as it can get, really. Approximate location, age, mobile OS/browser, your contacts, which TikTok links you open, who generated the links you open, TikTok search history, how long it takes you to swipe to the next video on the for you page, etc. I don’t think it's really possible to say what TikTok’s algorithm does “naturally”. There’s so many influencing factors to it. (Beyond the promoted posts and ads which people pay TikTok to put in your face) If you sign up to TikTok with an Android and tell it you’re 16, you’re gonna get recommended what the other 16 year olds with Androids in your nearby area (based on IP address) are watching.
- yapyap 1y agoafter reading some of the article it seems to me that they’re saying that on a restricted account thats got the bday of a 13 year old with the suggested search terms tiktok shows and a few clicks you can see actual porn.
- ChromaticPanic 1y agoI'm on an unrestricted account and I can't find actual porn. Sounds like this article is rage bait, claiming women in swim wear as porn.
- IanCal 1y agoReally? I've signed up to bluesky and tiktok and on both have seen literal porn extremely early without engaging directly (such as liking or responding, speed of scrolling could be something).
- InitialLastName 1y agoAll of these apps are 100% using your scroll speed/how long you spend engaging with the content as a data point. After all, "time spent engaging with the content" is the revenue driver.
- gadders 1y agoYeah, I've not seen any actual porn either. Just thirst traps. It might be because I always block anyone with an OF link in their bio, but then that policy doesn't work on Insta.
- ivape 1y agoYou think thirst traps are okay for kids? If we rewind time, the Girls Gone Wild commercial is not supposed to be even remotely possible on certain channels. We’re a derelict society that has become numb, “it’s just a thirst trap”. We’re in the later innings of a hyper-sexualized society. Why it’s bad: 1) You shift male puberty into overdrive 2) You continue warping young female concepts of lewdness and body image, effectively “undefining” it (lewdness? What is lewdness?). 3) You also continue warping male concepts of body image
- School-Cotton 1y agoWhen did anyone say it was okay? You’re reading something into the comment that isn’t there.
- ivape 1y agoI read into this sentence: “Just thirst trap” (And you see the word I read into). Right. No, I get it. Listen, we collectively have the issue of not recognizing the significance of things. Nothing personal.
- Hizonner 1y ago> You think thirst traps are okay for kids? Yes. Promoting vaping, not so much. > We’re in the later innings of a hyper-sexualized society. O NOES! I mean, that's a ridiculous thing to say, but if it were true, so what?
- ivape 1y agoNo one can scroll through my shit and get vape content. But granted, I am a walking vape ad with the name, touché. Two wrongs don’t make a right. I regret this name honestly, as there are a lot of high school and college aged people here.
- mvieira38 1y agoThis content isn't as overt as it may seem, maybe you did come across it and just didn't notice flashing. Those "in the know", generally younger people whose friends told them about flashtok, know what to look for
- causal 1y agoAlso: kids click on links adult ignore without thinking. Our brains have built in filters for avoiding content we don't want; for kids everything is novel.
- mvieira38 1y agoTeens are way more excited than adults at seeing this stuff, as well, so we can expect engagement to increase the dirtier the content shown gets
- Kenji 1y ago[dead]
- saurik 1y agoI wonder when this study happened? FWIW, there was some pretty intense bombing of full-on nudity content to TikTok a month or two ago--it all looked like very automated bot accounts that were suddenly posting scenes with fully nude content cut out of movies--that I saw a number of people surprised were showing up in their feeds. It felt... weaponized? (And it did not last long at all, FWIW: TikTok figured it out. But it was intense and... confusing?)
- Hizonner 1y agoThey are saying that they can find some of that content when they use relatively sophisticated techniques to intentionally try to find it. They are in the business of whipping up outrage, and should not be given any oxygen.
- lupusreal 1y ago> relatively sophisticated techniques Clicking on thirst trap videos?
- Hizonner 1y ago... and searching for obfuscated strings that nobody would even know about unless they were actively looking.
- lupusreal 1y agoAre you making that up, or do you have a source? > Researchers found TikTok suggested sexualised and explicit search terms to seven test accounts that were created on clean phones with no search history.
- Hizonner 1y agoI hate to direct traffic to people like that, but, you know, how about their actual "study"? I realize that the "journalists" at the Guardian aren't willing to provide the actual source link, but it's not hard to find. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/tiktok-directs-13-year-olds-to-porn/ https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/tikto... Their methodology involves searching for suggested terms. They find the most outrage-inducing or outrage-adjacent terms offered to them at each step, and then iterate. They thereby discover, and search for, obfuscated terms being used by "the community" to describe the content they are desperately seeking. They also find a lot of bullshit like the names of non-porn TV shows that they're too out of touch to recognize and too lazy to look up, and use those names to gin up more outrage, but that's a different matter. This is, of course, all in the service of whipping up a moral panic over something that doesn't fucking matter to begin with.
- fsckboy 1y ago>Are they making the claim that showing porn is a normal behavior for TikTok's algorithm overall, or are they saying that this is something that specifically pervasive with child accounts? the latter is what they tested, but they didn't say specifically pervasive. you quote the article so it seems like you looked at it, but questions you are curious/skeptical about are things they talked about in the opening paragraphs. it's fine to be skeptical, but they explain their methodology and it is different than the experience you are relying on: >Global Witness set up fake accounts using a 13-year-old’s birth date and turned on the video app’s “restricted mode”, which limits exposure to “sexually suggestive” content. >Researchers found TikTok suggested sexualised and explicit search terms to seven test accounts that were created on clean phones with no search history. >The terms suggested under the “you may like” feature included “very very rude skimpy outfits” and “very rude babes” – and then escalated to terms such as “hardcore pawn [sic] clips”. For three of the accounts the sexualised searches were suggested immediately.* >After a “small number of clicks” the researchers encountered pornographic content ranging from women flashing to penetrative sex. Global Witness said the content attempted to evade moderation, usually by showing the clip within an innocuous picture or video. For one account the process took two clicks after logging on: one click on the search bar and then one on the suggested search.
- NoGravitas 1y agoYeah, I (50m) have never encountered literal porn on TikTok. Suggestive stuff, thirst traps, sex ed, sex jokes, yes, but no literal porn or even nudity.
- huflungdung 1y ago[dead]
- ajsnigrutin 1y agoI'm old enough, and except for places like 4chan, and ads on torrent sites (before adblocks were a thing), I pretty much never saw porn online by accident. The closes to porn were censored boobs on social networks when someone shared some daily mail article or other mainstream media stuff. On the other hand... There is "WikiHitler", a game where people click on a "random article" on wikipedia and try to reach the "Adolf Hitler" page in the least amount of clicks... so yeah, technically, on wikipedia, you're always a few clicks away from Hitler too, but not by accident.
- consp 1y agoThese are all versions of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon [1] (or the Erdos variant if you like) and thus no surprise at all. And these includes this "clicks needed to get to porn" variant. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon
- miyuru 1y agohere is the original article from globalwitness with screenshots. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/tiktok-directs-13-year-olds-to-porn/ https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/tikto... I don't know why news sites don't link to the source, but that's another discussion.
- ChromaticPanic 1y agoLooks like basic thirst trap content , probably not included to maximize their rage baiting. I don't understand why these puritans don't just move to the middle east. They instead ruin the internet for the rest of us.
- 0_____0 1y ago> 3. We have deliberately not included examples of the hardcore pornography that was shown to us.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- dentemple 1y agoThey already censored the not-porn (but still NSFW) photos. I don't think it would've made as much of a difference censoring the porn photos as well, especially when trying to convince people that they're not just creating click-bait. A lot of folks use TikTok on a regular basis. This article is the one making the claim that's far and away different from what most folks experience on the platform. Since I'm not about to go on there, pretend to be a 13-year old boy, and start seeking out the porn myself, I really need to see some evidence that this is a thing that is actually possible before I start picking out a pitchfork.
- ChromaticPanic 1y agoI guess I'll just trust them bro ? Have you tried finding them on tiktok? Because even when I deliberately tried I couldn't find any. They claim that children accidentally stumble into these videos.
- jacooper 1y agoThe conversation around tiktok is so politicized and biased to the point I just can't take such results seriously. If this was Instagram nobody would care. > Global Witness, a climate organisation whose remit includes investigating big tech’s impact on human rights, said it conducted two batches of tests, with one set before the implementation of child protection rules under the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) on 25 July and another after. Also why the hell is a human rights / climate org doing research on tiktok?
- ceejayoz 1y ago> Also why the hell is a human rights / climate org doing research on tiktok? Because such places are significant spots for propaganda and misinformation relating to both topics?
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- NickC25 1y ago>If this was Instagram nobody would care. Yes, people would care. People who have been ringing the alarm bell regarding kids on social media for literally decades now. Congress wouldn't care. Mark would make $ure of that...$omehow, but I can't quite figure out exactly what he would do. $omething $omething "campaign donation$".
- zakki 1y agoOn X, if you click a trending topic and scroll them down you'll see porn content quiet soon. #Indonesia trending topic.
- thankslarry 1y ago[flagged]
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- ratelimitsteve 1y ago>hardcore pawn [sic] clips Here's a link to the wiki for actual reality television show that exists in real life, Hardcore Pawn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcore_Pawn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcore_Pawn). That isn't a misspelling. Welcome to the phase of the TrumpTok Takeover where We Need To Do Something To Protect The Children. I wish you luck in the Telescreen portion. Remember, if you make woke facial expressions at the camera during any of the daily loyalty oaths you will be declared Antifa and reeducated. >After a “small number of clicks” the researchers encountered pornographic content ranging from women flashing to penetrative sex. Where? I'm a grown ass adult who likes sex and has had a tiktok account for years now and I can't find any of this. I can find people dancing, dressed in a way that would be perfectly acceptable in public, but where are the women flashing and penetrative sex? Can anyone confirm that they've seen any of these things at all on TikTok, not to mention after a "small number of clicks"?
- throw78311 1y agoThe resolution of the "national threat" chapter of Tiktok was pretty much a defeat for the other social media giants, so I guess they'll pursue this angle now.
- Razengan 1y agoYep the Facebook/Twitter lobbyists must be at the "Think of the children!" stage of the playbook now, instead of actually competing for once. Guess those dumb TikTok-wannabe Shorts/Stories didn't work out. Up next: Terrorist attacks coordinated via TikTok? Or maybe a school shooting, leading to a ban on TikTok instead of guns. Oh Murica..
- andrepd 1y agoYeah, all algorithmic social media does this to one extent or another. Suddenly it's okay if they're owned by Musk instead of the Chinese?
- NoGravitas 1y agoWas it? The US version of Tiktok is going to be run by One Rich A-hole Called L. E. pretty soon. It seems like maybe this research is just being published a little to late? Or maybe it's to manufacture consent for actually using the Oracle version.
- andrepd 1y agoI firmly believe algorithmic social media will go down in history as one of the most harmful inventions in the capitalist world, on par with the massification of cigarretes or leaded gasoline, or worse. I'm not being hyperbolic.
- teekert 1y agoNot just TikTok, I checked out SnapChat because my kid is the last one in his class to not have it (according to him). First movie I see 2 people falling off an e-bike, pretty painful, then someone making fun of someone with down syndrome, then some weirdly squirming middle aged women with duck faces, and then some very young ones (pretending to?) * off someone off screen while staring into the camera. Also I denied all access but it still suggested all my sons friends? How? Oh, and it won't even start without access to cameras. I was pretty shocked. Still, friend off mine, a teacher tells me: You can't let your kid not have SnapChat, it's very important to them. The Chinese apparently say: Just regulate! TikTok in our country is fun, educational even with safeguards against addiction. Because they mandate it. Somehow we don't want that here? We see it as overreach? Well I'm ready for some overreach (not ChatControl overreach, but you get what I mean). We leave it all up to the parents here, and all parents say: "Well my kid can't be the only one to not have it." Meanwhile the kids I speak to tell me they regularly have vapeshops popping up in SnapChat, some dudes sell vapes with candy flavors (outlawed here) until the cops show up. Yeah, we also did stupid things, I know, we grew up, found pron books in the park (pretty gross in retrospect), drank alcohol as young as 15, etc. I still feel this is different. We're just handing it to them. Edit: Idk if you ever tried SnapChat but it is TikTok, chat, weird AI filters and something called "stories" which for me features a barely dressed girl in a Sauna.
- yread 1y agoHeh on Facebook you don't even need any clicks. I logged in after a few years and the first video among the facebook shorts or whatever it's called was a woman removing her underwear.
- nekusar 1y agoI know I got rid of Tiktok a while back. But never have I ever seen actual porn, or even topless women on Tiktok. Of course, news rag cant publish the pictures/video and the accounts as proof. But we're supposed to take their word for it? Hard pass on that. Now, I have seen advertisements that used sexism of various sorts. And this is common wherever advertising and capitalism take hold - its a quick and dirty hack to help sell garbage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_in_advertising https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_in_advertising
- weakfish 1y agoThey did post proof… https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/tiktok-directs-13-year-olds-to-porn/ https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/tikto...
- nekusar 1y agoI missed that. However Im looking at the primary image there https://gw.hacdn.io/media/images/Tiktok_investigation_screenshots_AW_3.width-1600.png https://gw.hacdn.io/media/images/Tiktok_investigation_screen... In the first picture, there's the nude->rude replacement games, bikini (which is not nudity), models (which is not nudity). Unshaven girl could mean legs, armpits, and/or public area. The second picture also has no nude people in it. The closest "skin" picture is another bikini, which again, is not nudity. The 3rd picture is too blocked out, but likely more bikini pictures. Again, yes, you can see the labia bunching up (cameltoe). But this again is completely legal and normally seen in water parks and beaches. I also note they said "We have deliberately not included examples of the hardcore pornography that was shown to us.". So yes, I do doubt they exist for any length of time here. And the text search autocomplete is also hard, because many words are banned. So nude becomes rude. ICE protest and similar becomes party. Drones are "dior bags". And banning the stringing replacement words together is basically whack-a-mole. But no, this whole operation smells like "let us do anything in the name of ThE ChiLDrEn", including that scourge Chat Control. And to be fair, I'd rather adolescents look at titties. Sexuality is completely natural. And the fact this article is targeting 13 year olds, remember - they're already going or gone through puberty. Sexuality, and wanting to see what the other sex looks like is completely natural. This weird quazi-religious shaming is just terrible for everyone.
- trollbridge 1y agoUp next: certain politicians explaining why they need to take over TikTok and sell shares at a bargain price to their buddies.
- NoGravitas 1y agoThat is already a done deal for the US though, right? It just hasn't taken effect yet.
- random9749832 1y agoBreaking News: If you leave your child on TikTok unregulated you are an idiot. The world is hostile and full of exploitation. It is no different on the internet.
- throwacct 1y agoExactly. I don't understand why children "need" to use any social network. We were raised without it, and so can any kid, for that matter.
- dns_snek 1y agoYou weren't ostracized for not engaging on social media because it didn't exist. In 10-15 years Gen Z will be complaining about how their generation didn't need to have the most expensive AI boyfriend/girlfriend to avoid getting bullied, or something ridiculous like that.
- throwaway2016a 1y agoIf you consider "skimpy outfits" pornographic that both Facebook and X are worse than TikTok for me. I've seen a few pieces of content I had to report before but not many. X, on the other hand, has literal advertisements for adult products on my feed and I get followed by "adult" bot accounts several times a week that when I click through to block them often shows me literal porn. Same with spam facebook friend requests. I think it boils down to a simple fact that trying to police user-generated content is always going to be an up-hill battle and it doesn't necessarily reflect on the company itself. > Global Witness claimed TikTok was in breach of the OSA, which requires tech companies to prevent children from encountering harmful content... Ok, that is noble goal but I feel that the gap between "reasonable measures" and "prevent" is vast.
- gjsman-1000 1y ago> I think it boils down to a simple fact that trying to police user-generated content is always going to be an up-hill battle and it doesn't necessarily reflect on the company itself. I think it boils down to the simple fact that policing user-generated content is completely possible, it just requires identity verification, which is a very unpopular but completely effective idea. Almost like we rediscovered, for the internet, the same problems that need identity in other areas of life. I think you will also see a push for it in the years ahead. Not necessarily because of some crazy new secret scheme, but because robots will be smart enough to beat most CAPTCHAs or other techniques, and AI will be too convincing, causing websites to be overrun. Reddit is already estimated to be somewhere between 20% and 40% robots. Reddit was also caught with their pants down by a study recently, with an AI robot on r/changemymind racking up ridiculous amounts of karma undetected.
- throwaway2016a 1y agoI'm not convinced that will fix the problem. Even in situations where identity is well known such as work or school, we commonly have bad actors. It's also pretty unpopular for a good reason. There is a chilling effect that would go along with it. Like it or not, a lot of people use these social platforms to be their true selves when they can't in their real life for safety reasons. Unfortunately for some people their "true self" is pretty trashy. But it's a slippery slope to put restrictions (like ID verification) on everyone just because of a few bad actors. Granted I'm sure there's some way we could do that while maintaining moderate privacy but it's technologically challenging and I'm not alone in wanting tech companies to have less of my personal information not more.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- HK-NC 1y agoI bought a new phone with tiktok built in. Ive never used it. I went on it as a guest and within 60 seconds I was watching a childs gooner content. Grim.
- duxup 1y agoIt's funny how this works when it comes to undesirable content: The internet is full of "bad" (or at least undesirable under some circumstances) content. It's there on the interent, we kinda accept its existence. Then we train AI on it, and we're upset if it regurgitates it, so we have to add "safety". Meanwhile social media sends you right to it ...
- tennisflyi 1y agoThe internet was and is for porn. Not sure why that's hard to understand. Also, men want that content and women are going to make it (and get paid)