‘Damaging’ videos pushed to children that fuel ‘depressive state’ may face ban ...Middle East

Social media videos pushed to children that fuel feelings of depression could soon be outlawed under new rules being considered by media regulator Ofcom.

It follows The i Paper’s investigation exposing how TikTok’s algorithm repeatedly pushed “extremely damaging” videos about feeling depressed, suicidal and lonely to the account of a 13-year-old boy.

The TikTok account which belonged to a fictional boy created by this paper did not search for any content but, unprompted, was bombarded with depressive material within the first hour of being created, in addition to a stream of so-called “motivational” content inspired by Andrew Tate

The content pushed by TikTok’s algorithm was described as a “toxic cocktail” by the Molly Rose Foundation, the group which campaigns to prevent young people from committing suicide.

‘You don't want to be here’: How TikTok bombards children with harmful content

The new Online Safety Act already classes content that promotes suicide, self-harm or eating disorders as the types of posts that are legal but harmful. Media companies that do not have adequate safeguards in place to prevent children from viewing such content could face large fines.

But the media regulator has confirmed it is now gathering evidence that should include posts which “promote a depressive state of mind, particularly when seen in high volumes”. The i Paper‘s investigation saw potentially harmful content – such as clips about feeling depressed or lonely – pushed at a rate of once every two minutes with seven videos featuring depression shown in less than 45 minutes

Politicians and campaigners have criticised social media companies which push this content towards children.

Chi Onwurah MP, chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, said: “Parents and carers across the country will be hugely concerned by these findings, which show just how easily young people can find themselves at the centre of an algorithmic machine driving harmful content to them.

“These posts can be extremely damaging to children and other vulnerable people, even if some users find these videos helpful or share them in good faith.”

Mrs Onwurah’s committee is gathering evidence as part of their inquiry into social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms ahead of filing recommendations to the Government later this year to help protect vulnerable users online.

Ofcom is set to publish their finalised children’s safety codes of practice in April. Technology firms will then have three months to assess the risk of content that is harmful to children on their platforms and then be responsible for safeguarding young people by tackling this content or face punishments from the regulator.

A preliminary assessment from Ofcom, published in May last year, found “there is evidence to suggest that content relating to experiences of poor mental health can worsen the psychological state of children watching it, contributing to mental conditions such as depression and anxiety”.

Some MPs believe the planned measures do not go far enough to protect children.

The Safer Phones Bill will soon have a second reading in Parliament and it proposes social media companies should be prevented from using algorithms to push content to child accounts.

Former teacher Josh MacAlister OBE MP, who brought the private members bill forward, said this paper’s investigation “further demonstrates that weak age controls and addictive and inappropriate content is re-shaping childhood for the worse.

“The Online Safety Act was a first step to tackle these issues but we now need bolder action. We need measures that free up children to have more real-world interactions by making social media and smartphones less addictive for kids. That’s what my Safer Phones Bill is designed to do.”

The Bill, which is due to have a second reading on 7 March, would also ban the use of smartphones in schools and require under-16s gain a parent or legal guardian’s permission to use social apps.

The i Paper’s investigation also found “unreliable” videos about ADHD and autism were frequently pushed to a 13-year old girl’s Instagram account, prompting concerns of misinformation and distress among young viewers who may be wrongly persuaded they have these complex conditions.

A government spokesperson said: “Children must be protected online. Over the coming months the Online Safety Act will bring in place strong protections for children and hold social media companies accountable for the safety of their users. Platforms will have to take action by law, including putting in place highly effective age checks and altering their algorithms to filter out harmful content so children can have safe experiences on their sites.

“Social media companies should not be waiting for the new laws to come into force, they should be acting now to prioritise child safety.”

A spokesperson for TikTok said: “TikTok has industry-leading safety settings for teens, including systems that block content that may not be suitable for them, a default 60-minute daily screen time limit and family pairing tools that parents can use to set additional content restrictions.”

Instagram did not comment but recently launched “Teen Accounts” which are advertised as having built-in protections for teenagers.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK.

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