British children are being exposed to guns, self-harm, and misogyny within minutes of creating social media profiles, according to a new study by the Big Tech’s Little Victims campaign. Researchers created fictional profiles of 13-year-olds on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube, and found that concerning content appeared on average within three minutes of logging on.
Over a week, the profiles were served hundreds of pieces of harmful material, including content glamourising weapons, explicit sexual references, extreme fitness regimes, and encouragement of self-harm and suicide. On Snapchat, researchers flagged 86 pieces of concerning content in a single 30-minute session. The study also found that algorithmic content loops made it difficult to escape escalating harm.
Boys were particularly funnelled towards violence and misogyny. Their profiles were repeatedly shown weapons, hostile content about women, racist narratives, and figures linked to extremism such as Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate. On TikTok and YouTube, boys’ profiles encountered hate speech or racist narratives in 77 per cent of sessions, and on TikTok alone, misogynistic content appeared in 85 per cent of boys’ sessions.
Girls were disproportionately served extreme body-focused and sexualised content, including “thinspiration” and body shaming, often alongside self-harm and suicidal ideation. TikTok served the girl profiles extreme health, fitness, or diet content in 92 per cent of sessions, and sexualised content in 83 per cent.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, which leads the campaign, said: “Children are being exposed to deeply harmful content on social media, even when platforms know their age. This is not accidental – it is how these systems are designed.” He called on the government to raise the age of social media access to 16, warning that “every day of delay leaves thousands more children exposed to harm and exploitation.”
