Are social networks, and in particular Tiktok, really a danger to the health of children? Things are not so simple in this matter. Back to the Senate report.
The Weekend Science Ticketwith Mathilde Fontez, editor-in-chief of the magazine Epsiloon. Where we talk about Tiktok again, since the commission of inquiry launched in March in the Senate has delivered its report.
franceinfo: What are the dangers of this application – the most downloaded in the world? What are the dangers especially for young people?
Mathilde Fontez: It’s far from clear. In their conclusions, the senators are above all very critical of the application’s links with the Chinese government. They point to geostrategic risks, manipulation of information, and the lack of transparency in the operation of the app. In particular, there are gray areas regarding the collection, storage and use of user data.
The senators also point to a non-existent control of age. Tiktok has 22 million users in France, 47% of whom are between 13 and 24 years old. The application is prohibited for children under 13, but 63% of 13-year-olds use it, and 45% of 11-12 year olds. The big question is the psychological risks for these children, who are necessarily more vulnerable than adults to this stream of streaming videos. And for the moment, there is not really an answer.
Yet, do we often talk about addiction to social networks?
Yes, but the rare studies that exist – there are few of them, the report joins here a survey that we conducted a few months ago – show that the subject is just beginning to be studied by specialists, and for the moment , the conclusions are not so clear, sometimes even contradictory.
Certainly, there are demonstrated dangers: on children under 3, the data is consistent and proves that the use of Tiktok, and more generally of social networks, delays the acquisition of language, the recognition of emotions and motor skills. fine. The effects of screens on sleep have also been widely proven: high exposure delays falling asleep and disturbs the night.
No general conclusion?
The idea of an addiction that would be created by Tiktok, that users would be in poorer mental health, or that they would have poorer school results than others, all of this is struggling to be demonstrated for the moment. As for other social networks, except when the use is very intensive. Does Tiktok cause, for example, a collapse of attention? Researchers observe no such thing. It is impossible to conclude that social networks have negative effects. They could play, rather, the role of an amplifier, by reinforcing psychological difficulties which would already exist.
Conversely, some studies also point to positive effects: stress reduction, social connection, and especially creativity.
The Senate report to read here: senat.fr