Video platform TikTok on Thursday rebuffed Amnesty International’s criticism that it is a “toxic space,” defending the work it does to create “diverse viewing experiences” and removing 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 and self-harm content.
In response, TikTok, in a short statement attributed to a representative of the video-sharing platform, claimed that “when researchers reviewed the videos” analyzed by Amnesty International, they found that “the majority of the content (73%) was not entirely related to mental health.”
“Of the videos that mention mental health, most focus on sharing life experiences without romanticizing them,” TikTok says.
“This demonstrates the effectiveness of TikTok’s work to create a diverse viewing experience while removing content that violates our policies,” the company said.
The AI found that “TikTok markets itself as an ‘online platform’ for entertainment, creativity and socialising, but it is becoming an increasingly toxic and addictive space that can impact people’s self-esteem, mental health and wellbeing. Younger users are at risk of falling into the traps of depressive and self-harm content,”
The AI noted that TikTok’s “privacy-obsessed profit-making method tracks everything a user does on the platform to gather information about their behavior,” seeking to “predict their interests, emotional state, and well-being.”