A new study conducted by researchers from University College London confirmed that TikTok algorithms are flooding teenage accounts with “hateful ideologies and misogynistic tropes.”

The researchers found a four-fold increase in the level of misogynistic content posted on the For You page in accounts created for a study that mimicked the accounts of young teens.

The “troubling” videos that streamed to the accounts included “How to Deal with Disrespectful Women,” “Understanding the Female Narcissist,” negative opinions about “the truth of feminine nature,” and others urging the opinion that “Don’t chase women, chase money.” ", according to the examples mentioned in the study.

The researchers said, “In this way, offensive and misogynistic material is pushed out, through which the vulnerabilities of adolescents are exploited, such as those who suffer from psychological problems or who face bullying or excessive anxiety.”

The researchers said that their findings indicate a major problem in all social media, not just “Tik Tok,” and they also highlight the need to develop a “healthy digital system” that pushes young people to think critically about “toxic substances.” online” that they see.

They also called for big tech companies to be held accountable for “harmful algorithmic operations.”

Tik Tok's response:

For its part, TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based Bytedance, rejected the results of the study, arguing that the report is based on a limited sample size, and that examples of content offensive to women were not shared with its safety teams for review.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement, “Misogyny has long been banned on the platform, and we proactively detect 93% of the content we remove for violating our rules on hate.”

He added, "The methodology used in this report does not reflect how real people experience the TikTok application, and we are working to ensure that our communities enjoy a variety of content."