The researchers also created accounts mimicking 14-year-old boys who liked video games; those accounts also received similar levels of gun- and violence-related content.
One of the videos recommended for the accounts was titled “How a Switch Works on a Glock ." YouTube later removed the video after determining it violated its rules; an almost identical video popped up two weeks later with a slightly altered name; that video remains available.
Along with TikTok, the video sharing platform is one of the most popular sites for children and teens. Both sites have been criticized in the past for hosting, and in some cases promoting, videos that encourage gun violence, eating disorders and self-harm. Critics of social media have also pointed to the links between social media, radicalization and real-world violence.
The neo-Nazi gunman who killed eight people earlier this month at a Dallas-area shopping center also had a YouTube account that included videos about assembling rifles, the serial killed Jeffrey Dahmer and a clip from a school shooting scene in a television show. In the absence of federal regulation, social media companies can target young users with potentially harmful content designed to keep them coming back for more, said Shelby Knox, campaign director of the advocacy group Parents Together. Knox's group has called out platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok for making it easy for children and teens to find content about suicide, guns, violence and drugs.
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