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According to a recent investigation, the widely-used social media app has been discovered to guide children's accounts to explicit material within a small number of clicks.

Testing Approach

An advocacy group set up fake accounts using a date of birth for a minor and enabled the "restricted mode" setting, which is designed to restrict exposure to inappropriate content.

Investigators discovered that TikTok proposed inappropriate and adult-themed search terms to seven test accounts that were created on unused smartphones with no search history.

Alarming Recommendation Features

Keywords proposed under the "suggested searches" feature contained "extremely revealing clothing" and "explicit content featuring women" – and then advanced to phrases such as "explicit adult videos".

For three of the accounts, the sexualized searches were suggested immediately.

Fast Track to Adult Material

Following just a few taps, the study team came across adult videos including women flashing to graphic sexual acts.

Global Witness claimed that the content attempted to evade moderation, usually by showing the video within an harmless image or video.

In one instance, the procedure took two taps after logging on: one click on the search function and then one on the suggested search.

Legal Framework

Global Witness, whose mandate includes investigating big tech's impact on human rights, stated it carried out two batches of tests.

The first group occurred prior to the implementation of minor safety measures under the British online safety legislation on July 25th, and a second set after the rules took effect.

Concerning Discoveries

Researchers noted that multiple clips included someone who looked like they were below the age of consent and had been submitted to the online safety group, which monitors exploitative content.

The research organization asserted that the social media app was in breach of the digital protection law, which mandates social media firms to stop children from encountering inappropriate videos such as adult material.

Official Reaction

A spokesperson for Ofcom, which is charged with regulating the law, commented: "We value the effort behind this research and will review its findings."

The regulator's guidelines for following the law state that digital platforms that present a significant danger of showing harmful content must "configure their algorithms to remove dangerous material from children's feeds.

TikTok's content guidelines forbid adult videos.

TikTok's Statement

The video platform announced that upon receiving information from Global Witness, it had deleted the violating content and made changes to its recommendation system.

"Immediately after notification" of these claims, we responded quickly to investigate them, delete material that violated our policies, and introduce upgrades to our search suggestion feature," stated a official speaker.