TikTok’s newest feature will remove beauty filters to minors using the platform,. However some experts believe social media’s effect on children go much deeper than just filters. In the UK, TikTok is beginning to roll out restrictions on they’re ever so popular beauty filters.
There’s been much debate around the effects such filters may have on young children. Many experts believing they contribute to creating an unrealistic beauty, negatively impacting children’s mental health.
TikTok’s superficial decision
However, much like the filters, this solution rings hollow. It may be true that exposing children to such filters can foster unrealistic standards. However it seems to be a shallow way of tackling a much larger problem on the app, and social media as a whole.
In a 2021 study by Columbia University, social media can provide not only a platform for the aforementioned unrealistic expectations, but also “bullying and exclusion, normalisation of risk-taking behaviours, and can be detrimental to mental health” amid a plethora of other problems.
These findings also forget to take into account the research done by investigative journalist Eliot Higgins. Higgins found that social media platform’s AI algorithm, responsible for feeding users a constant flow of content, was showing young boys more disturbing videos (accidents, misogynistic speeches etc.) even when starting a fresh account. In a BBC article, looking into this phenomena, a former TikTok employee expressed how social media platforms prioritise engagement (both positive and negative) over everything.
The employee even was quoted saying: “We are asking a private company whose interest is to promote their products to moderate themselves, which is like asking a tiger not to eat you”.
Threat of radicalisation
The result of this constant loop of negative content aimed at young boys is radicalisation. A term that is becoming more and more relevant in today’s world. Social media websites like TikTok, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) rely on users to stay on the app to keep making money.
Hence AI tools capable of taking your information and feeding you just the right content that would keep you scrolling. This method generates endless mountains of cash for executives. It creates indeed echo-chambers. One misogynistic video leads to another, then another and before they know it, the whole world seems to be reinforcing one perspective; leading to radicalisation.
As young people go through adolescence they are at a vulnerable stage. They are forming their own identity separate from their family’s.
It’s important for them to be taking in as many opinions and ideas as possible. TikTok’s decision to restrict beauty filters is a welcomed one. However there is much more these social media websites could be doing to safeguard children’s mental health and overall wellbeing.
