TikTok: Mental health advocates worry about screentime and content • FRANCE 24 English

Last week, Tik Tok announced it was launching a new meditation feature that would be automatically switched on at 10 p.m. for all users under 18. Tik Tok is currently facing several lawsuits accusing it of harming children’s mental health with addictive features and dangerous content. Backlash is also growing from both mental health advocates and politicians. Well, joining me now to talk about the growing global concern over the psychological effects of Tik Tok on children and teens is our digital parenting expert, Dr. Elizabeth Movie Dove, Elizabeth, always great to have you on the show. Oh, thank you, Genie. Always great to to share. All right, let’s start with the big question. Tik Tok has been around for years now. Why are we only seeing this huge surge of concern, including investigations in the US, new guidelines in the UK, and even an inquiry here in France. Why are we seeing this all happening now? Yeah. Well, just as you said, Tik Tok has been around. The concerns are not new, but what has changed is the scale, right? So also the research and quite frankly the political momentum that is behind all this and we now are having seeing studies with mounting evidence that talk about um linking the excessive use of these short form uh algorithmdriven platforms like Tik Tok, like Instagram reels, like YouTube um and it causes increased anxiety. It causes body image issues, sleep disruption and even reduced uh attention spans in our teens and young people. But I think it is really really important that we realize as well that there there could be other factors, right? So the research is just getting started and so we shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but I’m me personally, I’m very very happy that we’re finally going to get some science-based answers to what is truly going on uh with the mental health of our young people. Well, talk to us a bit more about this global concern. I mean, what countries are saying what? Yeah. So, um, as we know, Americans, um, in the US, the lawmakers are proposing, uh, age limits and bans. I mean, that seems to be their way of of wanting to deal with this. Um, in the UK, where I’m based, we have the regulators like Offcom. They are really calling out Tik Tok over harmful algorithms, and they’re soon going to get to the other uh, platforms as well. And where you are, Jeie, in France, as you just mentioned, there is that national assembly inquiry. And really what they’re trying to do is to ask what role this platform is playing uh in this mental health crisis for children. But again, I love the idea that it’s an inquiry. We don’t have all the answers. So, let’s just wait and see what the science shows us. Well, right. Well, let I mean, until we actually have more concrete answers. I mean, what do we know so far? what kind of psychological effects are we talking about or are we seeing already amongst young people right so that is the that is kind of the the key to the whole matter we are seeing some psychological effects right um and basically they are in three different categories I’ll start with the first so the the content itself if you’re looking at the content you can see that there are trends that that glamorize risky behaviors uh that promote unrealistic beauty standards um or that even suddenly nudge children towards um unfavorable and harmful activities. Um the the second psychological effect is just with the platform mechanics. And I don’t know about you, but I do have a Tik Tok account and that infinite scroll um is, you know, it keeps you on there. And the whole idea of these these wanting to get the likes and the views. Um me again, I have a highly personalized you uh for you page, which means the algorithm picks up the content exactly what I want to see and it delivers it to me, which can be great um until it’s not. And then the third um psychological effect is identity. And this is really huge because we know that our young people um and children that they are really exploring the platform. They are performing. They’re singing and they’re dancing. And unfortunately, while this can be empowering, it could also cause a lot of FOMO, fear of missing out, cyber bullying, etc. So, it’s a a bag of mixed tricks indeed. And a lot of concerns, you were saying before about body image. I know there’s that skinny talk trend that’s happening right now. I mean, that’s that’s tough for a lot of our our young people, particularly our young girls. I mean, given all of this, what can we as parents actually do? I mean, many parents just just feel powerless. Yeah. I I mean I it’s so true that um that there is this idea that we we are powerless. There’s rising anxiety, you know, lowered self-esteem and we see this especially among teenage girls as you just mentioned. But parents are not powerless. And that’s why I really want to come in as as I always try to with just hope and action. And so with three things that parents can do today, as I’m always saying, open that conversation. Start with curiosity. Talk with your children and your teens. Ask them about what they like about Tik Tok or Instagram reels or YouTube. You know, ask them about the different trends and how it makes them uh feel and this is going to build trust. The second one, co-explore, set boundaries together. I know, watch together. You know, it’s it is kind of fun. You can get in there and sit there and look at the app together. Um you can use some of the tools like um screen time and content filters, especially for your younger teens. And this is not punishment, Genie. This is these are guardrails. So this is going to help them and try to make space for other offline things and family time and family activities. And lastly, you are building resilience. This is the name of the game, people. There are risks out there. Things are going to happen, but you need to make sure your children can bounce back from every negative uh influence. So I think parents can do it. You just have to jump in there and get started. Indeed. But what about government involvement? I mean, some countries around the world are considering or have already banned Tik Tok. Is that the solution? Yeah. And no, I really don’t think it is, Genie. I mean, we know with any sort of um bans, it sounds tempting. It’s like a quick fix, but it can backfire. So, this can drive some of the behavior underground. This can close down those conversations. And that is the last thing we need. We want to open up the conversation. We want to open up the trust with these people. And let’s not forget, we also need to ask them how do they feel about this this whole investigation and the mental health. have we heard their voices. Um lastly, I would say the better path, empower those parents, get some corporate accountability. Let’s get some regulations that are transparent, and then we’re going to have some really resilient digital citizens that can thrive. All right. And it always helps to know you’re leading the charge, Elizabeth Movie Dov. Thank you as always for your expertise. That is our digital parenting expert, Dr. Movie Dov. You can always check out more information on what she’s doing on her website and her Facebook page. And don’t forget if you want to get a closer look at what we were just talking about or any of the entrenew segments, you can always check it out on the France 24 web page. That is france 24.com.

TikTok is currently facing several lawsuits accusing it of harming children’s mental health with addictive features and dangerous content. Backlash is also growing from both mental health advocates and politicians. We speak to digital parenting expert Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov about the growing concern over the psychological effects of TikTok on children and teens.
#mental health #TikTok #social media

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5 comments

  2. Since when are people responsible for other people's unbrought up children? if we do not raise our children, the streets and social media will

  4. We have enough studies showing social media is harmless.

    The studies claiming otherwise have publication bias.

    We know you're lying.

    Sterne and Egger techmiques show us the publication bias.

Comments are closed.