Users of TikTok are waiting on the edge of their smartphone screens to see if the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold a ban on the social media app set to take effect later this month. A new study indicates that some of them are children who downloaded the app without permission.
According to researchers from UC San Francisco, most 11- and 12-year-olds in the U.S. use TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, even though age restrictions prevent users under 13 from downloading the apps. Their study, published Friday by the journal Academic Pediatrics, also found that 6.3% have a social media account they hide from their parents.
“Policymakers need to look at TikTok as a systemic social media issue and create effective measures that protect children online,” said Jason Nagata, a pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals and the lead author of the study. “TikTok is the most popular social media platform for children, yet kids reported having more than three different social media accounts, including Instagram and Snapchat.”
Data from a national sample of over 10,000 children between the ages of 11 and 15 was used for the study. Results indicate that a quarter of children with social media accounts reported often thinking about social media apps and that a quarter said they use the apps to forget about their problems. Also, 17% said they tried to use social media less but couldn’t and 11% said using social media too much had hurt their schoolwork.
“Our findings reveal a high prevalence rate of underage social media use in early adolescence. These findings can inform current policies and legislation aimed at more robust age verification measures, minimum age requirements, and the enhancement of parental controls on social media. Clinicians can counsel about the potential risks of early adolescent social media use,” said the study authors.
Supreme court justices heard two hours of oral arguments regarding the TikTok ban Friday, according to SCOTUSBlog. Per the outlet, the court was “divided over the constitutionality of a federal law,” that would require the social media giant to shut down in the U.S.
Congress enacted a law at the center of the case – the Protecting Americans from Foreign Controlled Applications Act – last year. According to the House Energy & Commerce Committee, the “bipartisan legislation is intended to “protect Americans by preventing foreign adversaries, such as China, from targeting, surveilling, and manipulating the American people through online applications like TikTok.”
This law requires China-based TikTok parent company ByteDance to sell the app by Jan. 19 or shut it down. TikTok representatives and content creators challenged the law and argued that it violates the First Amendment.
“During two hours of oral arguments, the justices raised questions about whether the law at the center of the case actually restricts TikTok’s freedom of speech, as well as about what will happen if there is no sale by the deadline,” SCOTUSBlog reported. It said the court is expected to decide on the matter soon, as the deadline is fast approaching.
While the Supreme Court case regarding TikTok is centered on national security and free speech, UCSF research note that children’s welfare should also be a consideration when addressing the impact of the app. For families with young children, the American Academy of Pediatrics has created the Family Media Plan to help manage time spent with new online resources such as social media.
“Every parent and family should have a family media plan to ensure children and adults stay safe online and develop a healthy relationship with screens and social media,” said Nagata.