Seeing clips and content showing violent acts on their social media feeds is making teenagers in the United Kingdom afraid to go out.
That is according to a new study conducted by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), which found that eight in 10 or 80% of teenagers aged 13 to 17 who saw content with violence and weapons on their social media feed said it made them feel less safe living in their local area.
Of those, 68%, or around 760,000 teens, said the violent content made them less likely to go out, as reported by The Guardian, which saw the results of the YEF study.
How Are Teens Finding Violent Content on Social Media?
Only a small group of teens actively searched for violent content online, the study noted. One in four teens (25%) said the clips appeared on their feeds through an algorithmic recommendation feature. Those clips showed real-life violence such as fistfights and stabbings.
Additionally, one in three teenagers saw weapons on their social media feeds. For comparison, one in 20 teens said they carried weapons, the study noted.
"We have a real problem with violence in the country, but social media makes it even more scary than it needs to be and it makes it worse. And you can see that children being afraid will lead to some children being more likely to carry a knife," Jon Yates, chief executive of YEF, said.
Where Are Violent Content Being Showed Most?
The YEF study found that a smaller share of teens (31% to 33%) using Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram saw violent content. The study did not provide any statistics on how many teens saw violent content on TikTok, but it noted that the platform said it removes over 96% of videos that violate its policies before they are even reported.
That said, it is important to note that a separate 2023 YEF study found that TikTok had the most material showing real-life violence. In fact, 46% of TikTok users said they encountered videos depicting violence on the platform.
For perspective, the figures for violent content for other platforms were 38% for Snapchat and Telegram, 34% for Facebook, and 27% for YouTube.
