TikTok is most-mentioned social media platform in Childline counselling sessions

Aine Fox, Press Association Social Affairs Correspondent

Social media platforms and apps have been mentioned thousands of times in Childline counselling sessions, the NSPCC said as it warned young people are being exposed to “a devastating range of harms” online.

TikTok topped the list of mentions, followed by Snapchat, Instagram, Roblox and YouTube.

It is the first time the charity – which runs the Childline helpline – has given a breakdown of the social media platforms and apps most-referenced by children and young people in their counselling sessions, with more than 5,500 mentions in the 12 months to March.

The NSPCC said that while some mentions of platforms were positive such as using them as a way to calm down, relax, or manage difficult emotions, and others were neutral, most were negative in sentiment or related to a young person sharing an experience of harm.

Concerns included mental health issues, online sexual abuse or exploitation, online harm and safety, suicidal thoughts and feelings and online bullying, the charity said.

TikTok was mentioned 1,781 times in counselling sessions, which was up by more than a third (37%) on the previous year.

As a platform might be mentioned a number of times in a session, the number does not equate to the number of children and young people, the NSPCC said.

It said Childline delivered 171,320 counselling sessions in total in the year to March to people aged 18 and under, with around 4,321 of those relating to concerns about online harms.

Snapchat had 1,106 mentions, while Meta-owned Instagram was referenced 569 times, gaming platform Roblox was referred to 550 times, and video sharing platform YouTube was noted 530 times.

The NSPCC said that almost half of those referencing TikTok were aged 15 or younger, which it said highlights the need for “robust” age checks on the platform when the proposed social media ban for under- 16s is due to come into effect next year.

Last month, the UK’s online safety regulator announced it had launched an investigation into TikTok over children’s risk of exposure to harmful content.

TikTok uses “age inference”, which examines a person’s activity on the site to estimate their age.

Regulator Ofcom has questioned whether these checks are good enough, suggesting such a method could be failing to correctly detect significant numbers of children – leaving them at risk of being exposed to harmful content.

This can include self-harm, pornographic and eating disorder content.

In relation to the Ofcom investigation, TikTok has insisted it is “confident that we meet our Online Safety Act obligations”.

Chris Sherwood, chief executive at the NSPCC, said: “It’s concerning but unsurprising to see how many children are coming to Childline to speak about social media platforms and TikTok in particular. Tech giants should treat this as yet further evidence of their failures to give children safe and healthy experiences online.

“Ofcom is right to investigate whether TikTok have failed to introduce accurate age checks, but this must be the start of a tougher crackdown on all those platforms that are exposing children to a devastating range of harms.

“If nothing changes, children of all ages will continue to be exposed to dangerous content even when the social media ban takes effect next year.”

A TikTok spokesperson said: “Teen accounts on TikTok have more than 50 pre-set privacy and safety features from the moment they join, and we use the latest technology to monitor and remove any content that attempts to exploit or harm young people.”

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