29 Mar 2023 By Know Muslim
The social networking sites TikTok and Snapchat saw an increase in child users in the UK last year, according to research done by Ofcom.
The UK media authority reports that half of the kids using TikTok and Snapchat are between the ages of 3 to 17.
The study was conducted as part of the watchdog's yearly poll of parents' and kids' attitudes towards the internet.
In the previous year, both applications had a minor rise in popularity, with up to 53% of kids using TikTok (up from 50%) and 46% using Snapchat (up from 42%).
Yet, both companies have recently faced concerns regarding user safety. Because to its alleged ties to China, TikTok has been blocked from official devices by numerous governments worldwide, while Snapchat has been criticized for not eliminating underage from the network.
According to the research, youngsters continued to use YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram (88%, 55%, and 41%, respectively), but Facebook, which is owned by Meta, saw a drop in users from 40% to 34%.
Furthermore, the percentage of three and four-year-olds using Snapchat has risen to 17% in 2022, from 12% the past year.
The representative for TikTok blamed "fundamental misconceptions" regarding the platform's safety protocols for the ban by several states.
In the meantime, a representative for Snapchat claimed that criticism of the app's policies against minors "misrepresented its efforts," saying that thousands of attempts by minors in the UK to open Snapchat accounts each month are refused and terminated.
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