TIKTOK is like “crack for kids”, a senior MP warned yesterday.
Tory MP Robert Halfon – the powerful boss of the education committee – said social media is causing a generation of kids to have anxiety problems.
Speaking in parliament yesterday, he said: “When I visit schools and speak to pupils, every time I ask them what is causing your anxiety or problems, they say ‘social media, social media, social media’.
“I think the social media companies bear a lot of responsibility for this.
“TikTok is almost like crack for kids, it’s sexualised content, they have these images all the time which the kids are trying to adopt.”
Tory MP Tom Hunt also stuck the boot in, saying social media has made bullying inescapable for many kids.
He told the education select committee hearing: “I can imagine, if you are a victim of bullying at school, back in the day at least when you got home you can feel that that was a bit of escape.
“With social media and all these different devices, it must feel for some young people that they can never escape.”
The committee was discussing the challenges faced by kids on social media.
