Teenagers' Mental Health Reportedly Shows Deterioration Due to TikTok Usage, According to a Recent Research Report
TikTok, the popular social media platform, has faced criticism over its handling of sensitive content, particularly concerning mental health issues. A recent study has highlighted concerns about the platform's limited sample size, short-term analysis window, and the scrolling of topics unrelated to the research.
Despite this, TikTok has taken steps to address these issues. The platform offers tools allowing users to set time limits on videos and take regular screen breaks. It also provides a dashboard tracking app usage for insights.
TikTok has also taken action against content that could potentially lead to self-harm or suicide, banning such content and removing 97.1% of videos violating their policies on suicide and self-harm before any reports are filed between April - June this year. Similarly, searching for harmful words or phrases, including #selfharm, on TikTok will bring up no results. Instead, viewers will be directed towards local support resources.
However, concerns persist. The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) believes that further legislation is required to ensure children are safeguarded from any inappropriate material on TikTok. The CCDH's report revealed that users can access such content in less than eight minutes on TikTok. Teens can access potentially harmful content related to suicide and eating disorders just minutes after creating a TikTok account.
TikTok's executives have faced questions about the platform's impact on young users, particularly adolescent girls, and potential contributions to negative mental health outcomes. State and federal agencies have launched investigations to determine if TikTok is an appropriate platform for young people.
The platform's efforts to protect teen users focus primarily on parental controls, content moderation, and age-appropriate experiences. TikTok implements features such as Family Pairing, default privacy protections, and content monitoring and moderation. Despite these measures, reports and lawsuits from 2025 indicate that harmful content related to eating disorders continues to circulate widely.
Proposed solutions include enhancing content detection and removal algorithms specifically for harmful content linked to mental health risks, strengthening regulatory oversight, promoting digital literacy and parent-teen conversations, and developing specialized curated content experiences for younger teens.
In summary, while TikTok has implemented several measures to protect teen users, significant concerns remain about the platform’s ability to prevent exposure to suicide-related and eating disorder content. Lawsuits and expert critiques have called for stronger safeguards and greater transparency on TikTok’s part, while TikTok continues to roll out technical and educational initiatives aimed at mitigating these harms.
References:
[1] TikTok Safety Centre. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.tiktok.com/safety
[2] The Center for Countering Digital Hate. (2022). Retrieved from https://www.ccdh.org/
[3] Lawmakers seek solutions to protect teens from potential privacy and security risks on TikTok. (2022, June 15). Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/
[4] TikTok under fire for failing to protect teenagers from harmful content. (2022, June 20). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/
[5] TikTok's efforts to protect young users from harmful content. (2022, July 1). Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/
- To address potential impacts on mental health, TikTok has ventured into the health-and-wellness sector, offering resources such as mindfulness and stress management techniques, alongside work-life balance and self-care tips.
- In light of growing concerns about the platform's influence on net worth and financial well-being, TikTok has recently partnered with leading experts in science and economics, launching educational content aimed at encouraging financial literacy and smart spending habits among its users.
