Mums reveal horror at finding TikTok paedos grooming their daughters – and cops are POWERLESS to stop it
HORRIFIED mums have revealed their shock at finding TikTok paedophiles grooming their children - and said police are powerless to stop it.
Campaigners and disgusted parents warned the app was a "magnet for paedophiles" after The Sun revealed how kids as young as eight were being targeted by predators and bombarded with sexually explicit messages.
TikTok, which lets users create and share short videos with music and camera effects, is the world's fastest growing app.
We have previously reported how kids, often dressed in their school uniform, have been messaged by creepy strangers underneath videos of them performing to music.
More horrified parents have now come forward and told of their shock at what they have found on TikTok.
TikTok, which has been downloaded more than a billion times in 150 countries, is meant for those aged 13 and over. But it's simple for users to lie about their age.
Last year an NSPCC report found that the platform was responsible for six recorded cases of child sex and child abuse images offences.
Now disgusted parents have told the Sun Online how their children have been sent explicit, inappropriate and threatening messages from strangers on the app.
That's why we launched our TikTok Time Bomb series - to raise awareness of the risks and urge the site to be better moderated so kids aren't left to protect themselves online.
Worried parent Nigel Wharton said: "I checked my 10 year old son's account and found five private messages from adults...one telling him they love him."
Mum-of-two Robyn Ganley, from Sunderland, was "furious" when she found a stranger had liked all her ten-year-old daughter Kais' photos and commented on them saying "wow".
She told the Sun Online: "I just happened to go through her phone that day and found it.
"It wasn't any of her friends contacting her, it was someone she didn't know. I reported the account.
"I was furious when I saw it. I deleted the app, but she re-downloaded it.
"I hate the app. It really frightens me as a parent how easy it is for people to contact my kids on there."
'FELT SICK'
A mum-of-one, from Bradford, who we have chosen not to name, was appalled by what she discovered on her ten-year-old niece's phone.
She told the Sun Online: "Debbie* was watching another child's live video when a private profile who had no picture started chatting to her via the live comments of the other child's video.
"This person kept asking personal questions and then proceeded to ask her if she had ever rubbed her private parts. I felt sick to my stomach."
The police were called and an officer came to see Debbie.
TikTok Time Bomb
TikTok has spread like digital wildfire, snapping up over 1.5 billion users since its global launch three years ago — including millions in the UK.
On the surface, the world's fastest growing social media platform shows short clips of lip-syncing to songs or showing off dance moves but there’s a far more sinister side.
It’s become a magnet for paedophiles as well as a hotbed for violent and extremist content, with TikTok predators exploiting the platform's young user base and lax security to prey on the vulnerable.
We've seen kids as young as eight being groomed on TikTok, while other creeps take advantage of young girls posting sexualised content of themselves on the platform.
And that's especially worrying on a site which is attracting millions more children every year, with 53 per cent of kids now owning a smartphone by the age of seven.
That's why we launched our TikTok Time Bomb series — to make sure parents are aware of the risks their kids are being exposed to, and what they can do to better protect them.
Everyone agrees social media can be a force for good, but it has to be used the right way and with proper controls in place.
We want TikTok to better moderate its content so that it’s not being left to kids to protect themselves online.
'TOO MUCH TIME AND MONEY TO FOLLOW UP'
They informed the family that there had been a lot of calls about similar incidents, where someone with a private profile without a photo had been sending vile messages to children.
The mum added: "What a lot of parents don't realise is that even if their child has their account set to private, people can still contact them through comments on another child's video or through comments on another person's live video.
"The site is definitely not good for young children. There's some really young people using it and it's scary."
The police talked to Debbie about the incident, online safety and the dangers of using TikTok.
However, while they took the name of the private account, the family said they couldn't track who it was behind the profile.
They explained: "They [the police] said there are too many of them doing the same thing and it would take up too much of police time and money to follow it up."
'IT SHOULD BE BANNED'
Another concerned parent Lynn Baldwin, whose nine-year-old son Shae was on the app, said it should be shut down.
She said: "The site is full of grown men grooming kids and vulnerable people, it should be banned.
"There were videos promoting drug taking and sexually suggestive content.
"Shae got lots of follow requests but when I checked them, they had no content on their accounts so I declined them.
"He was able to sign up when he was nine and no proof was needed of his age."
Mum-of-two Carolyn Wilkins, 39, whose 12-year-old daughter Izzy uses the app, told Sun Online: "Young girls are doing very inappropriate videos which they should not be doing at that age. I was shocked by that.
"I am in full support of the campaign being run by The Sun Online.
"In my view, as a parent of a child who uses the app, TikTok needs an overhaul of how the app operates.
"It's a platform for any child groomer or paedophile. Content does not appear to be vetted and neither are user accounts, meaning it is possible for anyone to use it.
"It's a major personal security issue. I think young users are really putting themselves at risk.
"Luckily for me, my daughter is extremely savvy and regularly shows me how she uses the app.
"We have a close relationship and would never respond to anyone unusual."
'WHO'S BEHIND THE SCREEN?'
Mum-of-two Ami Roberts, 30, said she was shocked to find "dark" and "uncomfortable" content on the app.
She told the Sun Online: "What scared me most was the age of some of the children on the app. Who knows who is behind the screen watching?
"When I downloaded the app, I quickly uncovered the dark side of TikTok and it terrified me. I really do believe children and vulnerable people need to stay away from this app for their own safety.
"I saw videos of kids who must have been six or seven years old who were bopping around to music and lip syncing to silly Kardashian sound clips. It really scared me to see children that young on the app and to know their videos could be shown to anyone."
She added: "I am in full support of The Sun's campaign. The app should be better moderated and safer for kids to use."
Chris Moralee, 39, from Bradford, said he was disgusted by what he found on the app on his ten-year-old son Denver's phone.
He said: "His phone kept flashing up like someone had messaged. I kept seeing this same man's name coming up.
"The messages he received said ‘hello are you there?’, ‘stop f***ing ignoring me’, then he said ‘I will find you’, ‘where are you?’ He was sending these messages to a ten-year-old. Denver was terrified.
"The person had a picture. I didn’t report it to police because I deleted the app, I wish I had told the police but I was keen to just get rid of it.
"I went on to my son’s phone to look at what had been sent and I looked at the content.
"He’s only ten…there must be a way for them to get parents’ permission to get on it. But there’s no way of them verifying their age.
"I had to tell him that not everyone in the world is nice and people do use these sites to send horrible messages and threaten people and stuff."
Mr Morales deleted the app on Denver's phone and his son's school held an assembly on the dangers of social media after he alerted them.
PAEDOPHILE HUNTERS WARNING
Vigilante hunters have warned there are "thousands" of predators on TikTok - but often don't have the right tools to snare paedophiles on the world's most downloaded app.
Paedophile hunting groups claimed the app was a "breeding ground" for child predators but said they were limited in the powers they had to nail them.
Vigilante group Dark Justice told the Sun Online: "You can bet there will be thousands of paedophiles on the app. It's a horrible app.
"It's been a breeding ground since the very beginning with kids being asked to do stuff.
"You have paedophiles using 'fame grooming' on kids...so they give likes and so on making kids feel popular and then attempt to get images from them.
"It should be shut down or made into a verified 18+ app."
However they said they couldn't use the app to catch paedophiles as they use still images, while TikTok is video based.
Jersey-based paedophile hunter Cheyenne O'Connor told the Sun Online: "100 per cent it is a magnet for paedophiles.
"It's one of the most used apps for children, every kid I know is on it. In every other video you'll find vile comments to children. I would say it really is one of the worst at the moment."
'EASY FOR PREDATORS'
TikTok user Liz W, 18, who goes by the name @bitheoji on the app, explained how the app plays into the hands of predators.
She said: "If some creepy guy just keeps liking videos of younger girls doing similar audios or soundtracks or hashtags, those are going to keep coming up on his 'For You' page.
"So it's easier for him to find more victims. And I think that's what makes it so easy for predators to come on it and victimise young children."
In our latest probe into TikTok we found a user with the name "Jimmy Savile's U15's".
In less than five minutes we found comments underneath videos of schoolchildren dancing and singing such as "Wowwww sooooo harrrdddd", "Rahh lads be careful 911 on da line but looking good", "Probs 13 lads", "any of you up for sale", "this song makes me horny baby" and "I'd so go all 50 shades on the ginger one in glasses".
Others posted comments too graphic for The Sun Online to publish.
Last year TikTok was ordered to pay about £4.3million to settle accusations that it violated children's privacy law.
Serious questions need to be asked about TikTok's moderation practices if users are able to freely post sexually suggestive comments to children
Andy Burrows
Campaigners have warned of the risks of young people falling prey to paedophiles on the app.
Andy Burrows, NSPCC head of child safety online policy, previously told the Sun Online: "Serious questions need to be asked about TikTok's moderation practices if users are able to freely post sexually suggestive comments to children."
Javed Khan, chief executive of Barnardo's, said: "Without the right security settings, children broadcasting live video of themselves in their bedrooms over the internet could be targeted by abusers."
Take control of TikTok – change these settings now
Parents should do the following immediately...
Go private:
- Head into Settings > Privacy and Safety and look for the Discoverability heading at the top.
- Under that you'll see a setting called Private Account. Toggle this on.
- TikTok recommends your page to lots of other users to improve video circulation.
- Switch the setting off and the account will no longer be recommended to other users.
Shut out weirdos:
- In Privacy and Safety > Safety, you can prevent other users from interacting with you.
- Most of the settings are on Everyone by default, but can be changed to Friends or Off.
- You can prevent interactions on comments, Duets, Reacts, users seeing which videos you've liked, and also messages.
Restricted Mode ON:
- Restricted Mode tries to limit age-inappropriate content from appearing for children.
- It's not perfect, and works through using computer-scanning systems – so some dodgy content will inevitably be missed.
- It's also possible to set a passcode to prevent your child from changing this setting later on.
- You'll find this in Settings > Digital Wellbeing > Screen Time Management.
Family Safety Mode:
- This setting lets you assign accounts as 'Parent' or 'Teen', giving you remote control over a child's TikTok access.
- You can set watch time limits, exclude inappropriate content and limit who can send messages.
- It's possible to do this from your own smartphone, so you can make sure your child is as protected as possible from anywhere.
- This setting is in Settings > Digital Wellbeing > Family Safe Mode.
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In response, the app said safety was its "top priority".
A spokesperson from TikTok, which last week announced a new feature to allow parents to control what their kids view, said: "We have a number of protective measures in place to reduce the opportunity for misuse and we're constantly evolving our measures to further strengthen safety on TikTok. For example, we now prompt any new user under 18 to make their account private at set-up and again before they publish for the first time.
"We enable anybody - whether a TikTok user or not - to use our reporting function to flag any content or account they deem inappropriate.
"While our protections won't catch every instance of inappropriate content, we continue to rapidly expand our content moderation teams and improve our technologies and policies so that TikTok can remain a place for positive creative expression."
*Name has been changed