September 29, 2022. Research shows TikTok, Instagram, YouTube recommend content with dangerous viral “challenges” to teen users

Contact:
David Monahan Fairplay ([email protected])

Research shows TikTok, Instagram, YouTube recommend content with dangerous viral “challenges” to teen users

Report from Fairplay shows dangerous online challenges easily accessible despite content violating social media platforms’ terms of service

BOSTON – Thursday, September 29, 2022 – New research shows that content promoting dangerous online viral challenges is easily accessible on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube for teen users. Dared by the Algorithm: Dangerous challenges are just a click away, a new report from advocacy organization Fairplay, documents how teen accounts on popular social media platforms are able to search for popular risky challenges despite the fact that such content violates the platforms’ terms of service. 

Using a bot account that was registered as a 14-year-old boy, Fairplay searched for videos on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube depicting “car surfing” and “train surfing,” long time risky challenges that have gained traction on social media and have resulted in serious injuries to some who have attempted them. The searches easily turned up content demonstrating the challenges without any safety warnings. Once the account watched one of these videos, they were flooded with recommendations and prompts to watch more. 

“TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube’s profit-seeking algorithms expose millions of children and teens to risky content that they are encouraged to imitate,” said Fairplay executive director Josh Golin. “Scores of young people have already experienced grievous life-threatening injuries as a result of these algorithmic recommendations. Congress must pass the Kids Online Safety Act to hold Big Tech accountable for these harms.”

The advocates’ report, authored by privacy expert and researcher Rys Farthing, PhD, comes as pressure mounts for Congress to pass legislation that would protect children’s privacy and wellbeing online. The advocates point to the Kids Online Safety Act (S. 3663) as a remedy to the risks posed by viral online challenges, given the bill’s requirement that platforms mitigate harms posed to children using their services. The bill, authored  by Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn, has bipartisan support among 11 co-sponsors, and passed out of the Commerce Committee unanimously. But it has yet to be scheduled for a floor vote in the Senate.

The report includes the story of Mason Bogard as told by his mother Joann. Mason, a 15 year-old, died as a result of attempting the so-called “Choking Challenge” in 2019. “Big Tech’s failure to do the bare minimum to make their platforms safe has made it near impossible for families to protect their children. Even the best parenting skills aren’t enough to keep kids safe online when we aren’t looking,” said Joann Bogard. “The Kids Online Safety Act will give more power to parents and hold Big Tech accountable for the harms their platforms have enabled.”

Dared by the Algorithm reveals just how empty the social media industry’s claims are about protecting children’s health,” said Richard Freed, Ph.D., psychologist and author of Wired Child. “Instead, what is revealed is how social media’s unfeeling algorithms promote dangerous content to kids. Passing the Kids Online Safety Act, which mandates that social media companies take common sense actions in children’s best interests in product development, must be a priority.”

 

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