Children fed toxic content by social media algorithms, study finds

TikTok’s and YouTube Shorts’ algorithms promote toxic content to boys and young men, the study found.

Children are being directed to dangerous, toxic online content by social media company algorithms within minutes of use, sparking calls for urgent action.

After as little as two minutes of use, fake accounts registered as teenage boys were being fed harmful content including toxic masculinity, misogyny, far-right ideology and anti-transgender rhetoric on YouTube Shorts and TikTok, a new Dublin City University study has found.