The BBC recently released a report that found that the video sharing platform, TikTok has failed to ban the accounts of paedophiles.
The investigation found that there are hundreds of videos posted by children and teenagers that have comments containing sexually explicit content. Some of the posts made were by children, including videos posted kids as young as 9 years old.
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Although the majority of these comments have been deleted after massive reporting. The accounts of the commentators are yet to be taken down.
TikTok has a strict policy against explicit content directed towards children. The company states that the protection of children is an “industry wide-challenge”. And that they want to promote an app environment that is secure and positive.
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, said that she will be arranging a meeting with the company to talk about the findings of the BBC report.
She added,
“I want children to be able to enjoy everything that the app can offer, but we need to make sure that those responsibilities are taken seriously.”
TikTok has slowly emerged as a popular platform among children and adults. It is a platform for lip-syncing to popular songs, making jokes, and playing out scenes from movies.
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Over the course of three months, the BBC collected hundreds of pieces of evidence of sexual messages directed towards children and teenagers. They then reported the comments, resulting in deletion of most within 24 hours. A number of messages failed to be taken down, and the accounts that posted these messages remained active.
BBC identified several individuals who repeated the acts. Besides the sexual nature of the comments, there were messages that were homophobic, racist, and anti-Semitic in nature. Certain individuals even tried to lure children with paid vacation offers.
TikTok declined to interview or comment on the subject.
