Researchers said they detected a four-fold increase in the level of misogynistic content suggested by TikTok over a five-day period of monitoring, as the algorithm served more extreme videos, often focused on anger and blame directed at women.
Meanwhile, the mother of murdered teenager, Brianna Ghey, called for social media apps to be banned on smartphones for under-16s after hearing evidence about the online activities of her daughter’s killers.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, which collaborated with the research, said: “UCL’s findings show that algorithms – which most of us know little about – have a snowball effect in which they serve up ever-more extreme content in the form of entertainment.
“This is deeply worrying in general but particularly so in respect of the amplification of messages around toxic masculinity and its impact on young people who need to be able to grow up and develop their understanding of the world without being influenced by such appalling material.
“We call upon TikTok in particular and social media platforms in general to review their algorithms as a matter of urgency and to strengthen safeguards to prevent this type of content, and on the government and Ofcom to consider the implications of this issue under the auspices of the new Online Safety Act.”
“It couldn’t be clearer that the regulator Ofcom needs to take bold and decisive action to tackle high-risk algorithms that prioritise the revenue of social media companies over the safety and wellbeing of teens.”
The original article contains 963 words, the summary contains 252 words. Saved 74%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Researchers said they detected a four-fold increase in the level of misogynistic content suggested by TikTok over a five-day period of monitoring, as the algorithm served more extreme videos, often focused on anger and blame directed at women.
Meanwhile, the mother of murdered teenager, Brianna Ghey, called for social media apps to be banned on smartphones for under-16s after hearing evidence about the online activities of her daughter’s killers.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, which collaborated with the research, said: “UCL’s findings show that algorithms – which most of us know little about – have a snowball effect in which they serve up ever-more extreme content in the form of entertainment.
“This is deeply worrying in general but particularly so in respect of the amplification of messages around toxic masculinity and its impact on young people who need to be able to grow up and develop their understanding of the world without being influenced by such appalling material.
“We call upon TikTok in particular and social media platforms in general to review their algorithms as a matter of urgency and to strengthen safeguards to prevent this type of content, and on the government and Ofcom to consider the implications of this issue under the auspices of the new Online Safety Act.”
“It couldn’t be clearer that the regulator Ofcom needs to take bold and decisive action to tackle high-risk algorithms that prioritise the revenue of social media companies over the safety and wellbeing of teens.”
The original article contains 963 words, the summary contains 252 words. Saved 74%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Good bot