A 12-year-old's sharp decline linked to TikTok's self-harm feed
A Canberra girl spiralled after the app fed her self-harm posts within weeks of downloading TikTok.
A 12-year-old who was happy, sporty and getting A's at school declined sharply after using a smartphone to access TikTok. Within little more than a month, she was in crisis; her school counsellor told her mother to hide sharp objects at home.
Maria collected thousands of screenshots showing posts that glorified self-harm and suicide. One post had more than 480,000 likes.
At a Senate inquiry on Monday, ACT senator David Pocock showed pages of these screenshots to TikTok's head of public policy. The platform says it removes self-harm content and invests billions in safety.
Senator Pocock called it "just the same old story from big tech" and said companies never take responsibility.
- 12 years old
- Girl's age
- Little more than a month
- Time to crisis
- 480,000 likes
- Single post reach
- Canberra
- Location
Why it mattersTeenagers are experiencing rapid mental health declines after algorithms deliver self-harm content. The Senate is debating rules to force change.
AustraliaAustralia's social media ban for under-16s exists partly because of this harm. The government is weighing stronger laws to force platforms to moderate algorithmically promoted content.
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