Hong Kong children expose their identities, thoughts and flesh to millions of strangers on popular iPhone app Tik Tok, Post finds
Parents and social workers express alarm as hundreds of underage youngsters upload information identifying themselves on social media platform used by millions around the world
Hundreds of Hong Kong children, some as young as nine, are exposing their identities, innermost thoughts and even flesh to millions of strangers on the world’s most popular iPhone app, an investigation by the Post has found.
Tik Tok, a fast-growing social media platform on which users make videos set to music, has taken the city by storm.
While users must be aged 16 or above, at least 100 local primary school pupils – identified through videos showing them in uniform or their real names or phone numbers – are active on the app, having posted between 10 and 500 clips each. More than 40 users are between the ages of 10 and 12, according to their bios and confirmed by the Post.
Video app Douyin brings Chinese out of their shells, beats YouTube, Facebook in download charts
Disturbing scenes were found in suggestive videos simulating sexual acts and self-harm, uploaded to draw the attention of other users.
The Post also identified suspicious adults using the platform to stalk and court teenage girls.
The app was developed by the Chinese firm Bytedance, which offers a version on the mainland called Douyin. It has found staggering success. In the first quarter of this year, Tik Tok was the most downloaded iPhone app worldwide, totalling 45.8 million and surpassing Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, according to the American research company Sensor Tower.
It is the most popular photo and video app in Hong Kong, Japan and much of Southeast Asia including Indonesia and the Philippines, and ranks first among iPhone apps in Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, according to data company App Annie.