What Every Parent Should Know About TikTok

For those who are not aware, TikTok is a video-sharing social media platform. It's highly addictive and popular amongst young people, most of its users being in the 10-19 age group. If you have a child in that age group, they are very likely on TikTok.

I recently joined TikTok to see why it was generating so much hype. Most of the content I came across was of young girls objectifying themselves and sexual innuendos. I hear the money is good and more youngsters are flocking to the platform to become full-time TikTokers. Good luck to them if they want to pursue a career in posting 60-second clips of themselves changing clothes, putting on make-up, shaking their asses, pranking, and most of the triviality that goes on there.

Yes, as my tone suggests, I do not support it, but that's not what bothers me about Tiktok.

I respect the independence the 16-year-olds crave these days and the choices they make. We were all 16 once; I have come to terms with that.

It's the age group 10-14 that worries me. The heavy use of TikTok amongst children in this age group is staggering, with nearly forty-five percent of the videos on TikTok posted by them. In the UK, the Office for Telecommunications ( OFCOM ) found out that children as young as eight were posting videos on TikTok!

The recent death of a 10-year-old girl in Italy who died of asphyxiation after participating in a "blackout challenge" on TikTok is a tragic reminder of the danger TikTok poses to our children. Although TikTok says it is not for children below 13, it does absolutely nothing to stop them from joining the platform. An easily breachable self-declaration of one's age is the only security measure.

My own time at TikTok, which barely lasted two days, brought me face to face with what I would aptly call every parent's nightmare. TikTok is not simply about recording and uploading 60-sec video clips. It also allows Livestreaming yourself indefinitely, while anyone can join your Livestream, chat with you, and give you "gifts and roses." A gift and rose is virtual money. You can call it TikTok money. A user buys it using real money and presents it to someone, which the receiver can convert into "diamonds" again TikTok money. A diamond is redeemable for real money using Paypal, wire transfer, etc.

I saw a barely 12-year-old girl streaming herself alone in her bedroom. She had her school uniform on, "I have just returned from school," she whispered. She was whispering, for some reason, but would not disclose why. I assume she did not want to let her parents know what she was doing. The comments ranged from the curious "why r u whispering " to the disturbing "hey cutey" "hi beautiful 😍" "I like your lips."

It's that easy. You pick up your phone and start streaming yourself, unaware of the dangers lurking on the platform. I would not be surprised if pedophiles and grooming gangs are now using TikTok to lure potential victims.

This young schoolgirl took off her skirt while live-streaming herself while 313 people were watching. She wanted people to "vote for her" for something.

Several others under 13 were live streaming and being offered gifts in exchange for saying or doing something.

I will not even mention the 14- 16-year-olds, who think they are old enough to decide to live stream from their bedrooms at night.

That is the direct threat posed to children on TikTok, we don't know who these children might invite into their lives, and we are hardly doing anything about it.

And let's not forget the collection of user's private data by TikTok itself and how it uses it, which constitutes the indirect threat. TikTok's owner is a Chinese company, and reports suggest it transfers data(chats, fingerprints, location, videos, pictures, etc.) from your device to interested parties in China. One can imagine the endless sinister schemes that can result from the misuse of this data. That is why India decided to ban the platform, which resulted in TikTok losing 20 million users.

I understand the need for people to connect during these pandemic times, but we need to draw a line somewhere for our children. It's the least we can do for their protection.