TikTok’s Invasive Algorithms are a Vehicle for the Youngest Generation’s Insecurity

In the pandemic era, big tech corporations have a message for Generation Z: eating disorders (ED) are a perfectly acceptable part of growing up. Using powerful algorithms and comprehensive data collection techniques, platforms like Tik Tok capitalize off teenagers’ body insecurities. Thinspiration (content that aims to influence weight loss and disordered eating) and pro-ED content that is both unwanted and unregulated has a detrimental influence on the generation that uses social media more than any other. As social media usage has spiked within younger demographics over the past two years, this exploitation of privacy will leave a lasting mark on the current generation’s idea of body ideals and eating habits. 

When COVID-19 hit in March 2019 teenagers, like most people, fell out of sync with their daily routines, turning to the internet for emotional and psychological comfort amid the uncertainty of the global pandemic. Providing a forum for communication, entertainment, and creating increased connections in a time of isolation, social media apps like TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat became a sanctuary to teens at a time in their lives when belonging and validation are the most important. Tik Tok in particular is one of the most widely used social media platforms among people 13 to 18. Research from Statistica has shown that the time young children spend on the app doubled during the lockdown, increasing to  800 million users and a growth of 180 percent among 15-25 year old users during the pandemic. Directly benefiting from the increase of social media usage over the pandemic, TikTok grew by more than 75% this year, according to Forbes, and became the #1 top grossing app on iOS App Store globally according to mobile analytics firm App Annie. Primarily known for trendy dance and lip-syncing videos, the app is irresistible to young people; 62% of TikTok users in the US are aged between 10 and 29. And although the app was initially beneficial for that group, its online environment eventually became toxic and has been proven to have long-lasting negative side effects for its most vigorous users. 

By nature, teenagers are already prone to compare themselves to what they see online and on social media. But in an era when scrutinizing images of peers and influencers has become one of the most popular pastimes, the lines between real life and online life blur. Constant comparison creates a downward spiral in terms of negative body image and low self-esteem, making teenagers more likely to create unhealthy eating habits and dysmorphic body image issues. Pandemic isolation created a hotbed for eating disorders to fester, with teenagers experiencing a larger workload, cyber independence,  disconnection from peers, and an increasingly isolating everyday life. That combined with cascading online images of thin body ideals, diet culture, unrealistic beauty standards, and adolescent usage of apps like TikTok, all created a perfect storm for generational insecurity. 

More than two years into the pandemic, Tik Tok has continued to grow to more than one billion users with TikTok stars making as much as $5 million a year. Yet as the platform has increased its influence, users have become concerned with privacy violations and  lack of regulations. The platform has come under fire for its failures to moderate harmful content and the influence of its algorithm. Individualized for each user, the algorithm recommends content based on the user’s previous activity on the app. One study noted, “it is a highly visual environment in which appearance ideals and the pursuit of thinness are promoted. The interactive nature provides boundless opportunities for appearance comparisons and appearance-related interactions with peers… (and) appears to contribute to increases in disordered eating.” 

Because of the predictive nature of  TikTok’s “For You” algorithm, users often see content from creators whom they do not actively follow or are even necessarily interested in, making it hard to avoid triggering content. According to Dr Austin at the American Psychological Association, the algorithms are “deliberately designed to feed harmful weight loss content to users who are already struggling with body image.” Whether the content glamorizes eating disorders, recommends fad diets, dietary restriction tips, harmful workouts, or just blatant pro-ED content, the app’s algorithm injects these videos onto users' timelines regardless of potential damage. A slew of misinformation on healthy eating and diet habits prevails on the app, with thousands of users seeing videos recommending laxatives, ADHD medicine, and replacing meals with iced coffee as weight loss techniques. There are more than 100,000 videos under the TikTok audios titled ‘eating disorder check’ and ‘so you think I’m skinny.’ Disguised as ads, diet promotions, outfit videos, and “What I eat in a day” videos, most of this content remains unregulated despite violating the TikTok terms of agreement.

How exactly does TikTok prey on users? Without even creating an account, TikTok gathers users' information via cookies and data trackers. After creating a profile, users are immediately susceptible to the app’s extensive data collection database that tracks activity and content preferences. This information is then used to create a more specific, and potentially pernicious, personalized For You page. Additionally, the algorithms collect information on interactions with advertisers and other apps to pinpoint a user’s age, location, gender, and interests. Even more insidiously, in the US, Tik Tok collects biometric information including face and voiceprints. Morgan Wright, chief security advisor at security company SentinelOne, describes the data as “extremely valuable,’ adding that, “If someone watches a video until the end and gives it a like, Tik Tok can serve up tailored ads based on that. Capturing sentiment with this level of accuracy is harder on other platforms.” Not only is Tik Tok violating its users' privacy, it is feeding them insidiously targeted information and damaging content based on those privacy abuses. 

Yet as a relatively new app, Tik Tok’s privacy infractions have proceeded unhindered, even though their net results could be far more dangerous than those of other social media platforms. The app is unique in the demographic of its users; nearly half of all people on Tik Tok are aged between 16 and 24, and some are even younger. In 2019, the US Federal Trade Commission fined the app’s Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance $5.7 million for collecting information from kids under the age of 13 in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. “Big Tech’s exploiting these powerful algorithms and design features is reckless and heedless, and needs to change,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat of Connecticut. He continued, “They seize on the insecurities of children, including eating disorders, simply to make more money.” Bridget Todd, a spokesperson for UltraViolet, a women’s advocacy group, underscored the app’s lack of regulation: “TikTok as a platform is flying under the radar right now.” She continued, “Everybody knows that Facebook and Instagram have a huge potential for harm when it comes to younger audiences, but we are not talking enough about the dangers of these newer platforms.” TikTok has avoided criticism for their abuse of rights as a relatively new app, yet as its users become younger and younger, the violation of privacy becomes more of an issue. Children and teenagers are naive to the possible damaging misinformation about “healthy” weight loss techniques and ED strategies that TikTok recommends to its users, and the app’s content is increasingly influential within the youngest generation’s body-image insecurities. 

Especially when you factor in social media’s seismic growth over the course of the pandemic, we are the most interconnected society that has ever lived: each second, people in the U.S. send more than 7,500 Twitter posts, 1,394 Instagram photographs, and two million emails. But with that increased interconnectivity, Generation Z finds itself in the sway of billions of voices on social media with the horrible potential to urge self-harm through implicit body shaming, promotion of unhealthy diets and intermittent fasting, pro-anorexia and “thinspo” messaging that only gains cultural traction through apps like Tik Tok’s minutely calibrated For You algorithms.  

With that in mind, Big Tech companies like Bytedance and Instagram’s parent company Meta need to stop violating children’s online privacy and exploiting their insecurity and interconnectivity in the name of profit. Additionally, the U.S. government needs to step in to provide regulatory guidelines ensuring that basic standards of safety and the removal of misinformation are met. Lending even greater urgency to this unfolding societal emergency: anorexia has the highest mortality rate out of any psychiatric disorder, and 95 percent of people suffering from eating disorders are between the ages 12 and 25.  It is difficult enough for teenagers to love themselves and appreciate the way they look without being bombarded with the algorithmic forces of the Internet telling them they are not good enough. 

Scarlett Lee is a Junior at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles, California. She is passionate about politics, women’s rights, and climate change, and works with various organizations like Habits of Waste and the Joyful Heart Foundation to push for change and spread awareness. She spends her free time playing tennis, writing about current events, and learning French. Scarlett hopes to use her voice through writing and social media to build the presence of younger generations in the political world.