Story perspectives

Half of Social Media Child-Safety Tools Fail, Study Shows

6/29/2026

Summary

Story summary

University analysis finds half of child-protection tools on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube ineffective.
Researchers tested 86 features and approved only 35, noting Snapchat let adult accounts message child accounts without safeguards.
Failure rates of 73% on Snapchat and 50% on TikTok have spurred calls for stricter federal oversight and pressure on lawsuits, after TikTok’s search suggested “how to pretend to eat your food” following a teen’s eating-disorder query.

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Story summary

University analysis finds half of child-protection tools on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube ineffective.
Researchers tested 86 features and approved only 35, noting Snapchat let adult accounts message child accounts without safeguards.
Failure rates of 73% on Snapchat and 50% on TikTok have spurred calls for stricter federal oversight and pressure on lawsuits, after TikTok’s search suggested “how to pretend to eat your food” following a teen’s eating-disorder query.