Video platform TikTok today refuted Amnesty International’s criticism that it is a “toxic space”, defending the work it has done to create “diverse viewing experiences” and remove content that violates the company’s policies.
Amnesty International (AI) warned on Tuesday that TikTok “is becoming an increasingly toxic and addictive space”, increasing the risk of young people accessing depressive content and content related to self-harm.
In response, and in a short statement attributed to a spokesperson for the video-sharing platform, TikTok claims that “when researchers reviewed the videos” analysed by Amnesty International, they concluded that “the majority of the content (73%) was not related to mental health at all”.
“Of the videos that did make reference to mental health, the majority focused on sharing lived experiences, without romanticising them,” says TikTok.
“This demonstrates the effectiveness of TikTok’s work to create diverse viewing experiences while removing content that violates our policies,” says the company.
AI considered that “TikTok markets itself as an ‘online’ platform for entertainment, creativity and community, but it is becoming an increasingly toxic and addictive space, which can have an impact on the self-image, mental health and well-being of younger users, at the risk of causing them to fall into the traps of depressive and self-harm-related content”,
AI pointed out that “TikTok’s privacy-intrusive way of generating profit tracks everything the user does on the platform to collect information about their behaviour”, seeking to “predict their interests, emotional state and well-being”.
Lusa
