ISPCC says Prime Time report on dangers of TikTok for teenagers shocking but "no surprise"

The Irish Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) have said that the findings of an RTÉ Prime Time report discussing teenagers on TikTok last night was shocking, but also came as "no surprise".

Video-sharing platform TikTok has said it is looking into claims made by RTÉ's Prime Time regarding harmful content as a "matter of urgency", following the episode which aired on Tuesday evening.

The Prime Time report found that young users of the social media platform were regularly being exposed to videos relating to self-harm and suicide.

A particularly frightening aspect of this investigation was that the Prime Time team did not seek out topics, or engage with any particular content with the accounts they had made, yet within minutes the accounts which TikTok assumed were those of a 13 year old were brought down a "mental health rabbit hole".

John Church, CEO of the ISPCC, said of the report that "at Childline, we hear from children and young people everyday about the affect that technology can have on their mental health, but to see it played out in real time was truly shocking."

Church called for more legislation for the safety of children online. " Since February alone, 145 children have reached out to us at Childline to talk about self-harm, and 65 of those children are repeat contacts who have then gone on to reach out to us for help with suicide ideation.

"So I ask, with these shocking statistics in mind what are the technology platforms really doing to safeguard children?

"Let's be clear they are for profit businesses that are not in the business of child protection. It is painfully evident from RTÉ's investigation that they are pumping out the most dangerous messages possible to already vulnerable children and it is high time steps are taken to address dangerous algorithmic amplification. "