Fri, 03 Oct 2025

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 TikTok recommends porn to children, says report

Researchers find TikTok's algorithm recommends sexual content to newly-created child accounts.
A human rights campaign group, Global Witness, found that TikTok's algorithm recommends pornography and highly sexualised content to children's accounts. Researchers created four fake child accounts and activated safety settings, but still received sexually explicit search suggestions. The suggested search terms led to material including explicit videos of penetrative sex. Despite claiming to be committed to safe and age-appropriate experiences, the platform says it took immediate action once informed of the problem. In July and August this year, Global Witness researchers found overtly sexualised search terms being recommended in the "you may like" section of the app. These search terms led to content of women simulating masturbation or exposing themselves in public places. Some videos even included explicit pornographic films of penetrative sex embedded in other innocent content. The findings came as a "huge shock" to researchers, who stated that TikTok is not just failing to prevent children from accessing inappropriate content, but also suggesting it to them as soon as they create an account. Global Witness had initially informed TikTok about the problem in April this year, but found that the app continued to recommend sexual content despite its claims of having over 50 features designed to keep teens safe. The Online Safety Act's Children's Codes came into force on July 25, imposing a legal duty to protect children online and adjusting algorithms to block content which encourages self-harm, suicide or eating disorders. Global Witness carried out its second research project after the codes came into force, stating that it is time for regulators to step in and keep children safe online.
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