TikTok slammed for being a pedophile den as explicit content featuring children easily accessible on platform
TikTok is a social media application for creating short videos. Anyone can join the application irrespective of their age and gender. From kids to old folks, anyone can be a part of the application's consumer base and can share content, while having access to other's content as well. The nature of the application has thus raised concerns about users employing different techniques to get more followers. But TikTok is now being called a 'pedophile paradise'.
TikTok is a Chinese video-sharing social networking service, launched back in 2012. The application has tools to incorporate short dance, lip-sync, comedy, and talent videos. In 2017, the application was available worldwide on ISO and Android. According to Datareportal, TikTok has 800 million active users at the moment.
The application's target users are teens and youngsters, according to a report in 2019 by Globalwebindex, 41% of the users are aged between 16 and 24. The application gives the liberty to share, comment, save and like other users’ content even if they are not following them.
Any user’s information is publicly available to all its other users. Recently, in a cautionary on its official website, TikTok explained to parents that they can set their child's profile to private to ensure their safety. However, it admits that “even with a private account, profile information – including profile photo, username, and bio – will be visible to all users.” This feature has thus become a cause of concern about the compromising nature of the application and the vulnerability of children.
A Reddit user recently shared, “Seriously. I'm 21 and just downloaded this app because I thought I should check out one of the fastest-growing new social media apps and try to market through it but HOLY SH*T. 98% of posts are what look like underage girls either showing their bodies or being explicitly sexual. That shit is weird dude. I know that it's mainly popular amongst actual kids so it worries me that this is what they're all being exposed to. All these little ass girls are over here trying to become internet famous by being sexy and it's just plain DISTURBING. These children (whether they're innocent or not) are being exploited by the app.”
Another Reddit user commented, “It's not necessarily the young girls/boys dancing on the platform that are the creepy ones. Nor are they the ones at fault. It's the adults who are enabling them that are at fault. The kids are only like that because society has given the impression that it's ok to act and dance like that. Kids are very impressionable. So when you've got the world making sex so mainstream to the point that literally every kid is exposed to it, you'll get little girls and boys trying to act "sexy" as the outcome. Even kids whose bodies haven't even started developing naturally yet. It's those creepy a** pedos that are watching the videos telling them how hot they are, and stuff like that, that are the serious problem. Not only is it gross and creepy, but it enables the kid's actions and they'll only continue doing it because of the positive comments that they keep getting by doing it. TikTok is a cancer and a cesspool for pedophiles, and our society would be better off if the entire platform were to be shut down.”
A Twitter user tweeted, “TikTok is a portal into vulgar teenage development and the mentally ill (indiscernible) Anyone using the platform who has had a National Insurance number for more than 5 years is almost certainly a pedophile.”
“From a job perspective there is minimal pedophile activity on FB, kids don’t use as much as adults. The risk is from apps such as TikTok. Grown men have direct video access to kids making movies in their bedrooms! If u see a grown man watching kids on TikTok ask yourself why.” wrote a user on Twitter.
A Reddit user commented, “The difference between Tiktok and other platforms is most platforms give you control over what content you see. Tiktok pushes this sexual sh*t while suppressing other types of content.”
An investigation led by The Sun in the United Kingdom concluded that the app is a “magnet for pedophiles”. John Carr, one of the UK’s leading experts on child online safety, said to The Sun, “There’s no question an app like this is a magnet for pedophiles.” He continued, “When a young girl dances in skimpy clothes or imitates sexy dances, you’re sure to find people in the comments either asking them to continue making these kinds of videos, saying they’re sexy or asking for their Snapchat or DM [to direct message]. Some of these girls are not even ten years old.”