Investigation by the NRW State Media AuthorityChallenge Accepted: How widespread TikTok challenges are among children

The content analysis of around 2,500 TikToks also shows that videos with negative content do not necessarily achieve a higher reach than other videos. TikTok regulates harmful content by blocking both the challenges and related search terms. However, if a harmful video is not regulated by TikTok early enough or sufficiently, the platform's algorithm allows challenges to spread widely within a few weeks. This is because challenges of all kinds are very popular with children and young people. However, it remains completely unclear what criteria TikTok uses to regulate challenges, add warnings or even delete them. There is a lack of transparency here.

More than half of underage users also come across disturbing content

The survey of around 750 children and young people revealed that the majority of them prefer comedy videos on TikTok. Nevertheless, over 60 percent of those surveyed also encountered content on TikTok that made them feel uncomfortable. Almost 10 percent of them even encounter this content on a daily basis. This includes older and very dangerous challenges such as the "Momo Challenge". Despite strict TikTok regulation, more than 20 percent of children and young people are aware of this challenge. The study also provides a possible explanation for this: Children and young people learn about these challenges not only via TikTok, but also through traditional media, for example. It is therefore advisable not to report on potentially dangerous and deadly challenges at all or only with categorization. 40% of the young people surveyed would also like to see an independent reporting office for disturbing videos. This shows that existing reporting centers such as www.internet-beschwerdestelle.de and jugendschutz.net are still too little known among the respondents.