Related papers: Towards an Automated Framework to Audit Youth Safe…
Video-sharing social media platforms, such as TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, implement content moderation policies aimed at reducing exposure to harmful videos among minor users. As video has become the dominant and most immersive form of…
The prevalence of short form video platforms, combined with the ineffectiveness of age verification mechanisms, raises concerns about the potential harms facing children and teenagers in an algorithm-moderated online environment. We…
With the rapid rise of short-form videos, TikTok has become one of the most influential platforms among children and teenagers, but also a source of harmful content that can affect their perception and behavior. Such content, often subtle…
Recommender systems on social media increasingly mediate how users encounter mental health content, yet it remains unclear whether they distinguish help-seeking from distress expression. We conduct a controlled 7-day audit of TikTok's "For…
TikTok has skyrocketed in popularity over recent years, especially among younger audiences. However, there are public concerns about the potential of this platform to promote and amplify harmful content. This study presents the first…
The rise of short-form videos on platforms like TikTok has brought new challenges in safeguarding young viewers from inappropriate content. Traditional moderation methods often fall short in handling the vast and rapidly changing landscape…
TikTok, the social media platform that is popular among children and adolescents, offers a more restrictive "Under 13 Experience" exclusively for young users in the US, also known as TikTok's "Kids Mode". While prior research has studied…
During the COVID-19 pandemic, health-related misinformation and harmful content shared online had a significant adverse effect on society. To mitigate this adverse effect, mainstream social media platforms employed soft moderation…
The prevalence of harmful content on social media platforms poses significant risks to users and society, necessitating more effective and scalable content moderation strategies. Current approaches rely on human moderators, supervised…
Short video platforms, such as YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok, are used by billions of users globally. These platforms expose users to harmful content, ranging from clickbait or physical harms to misinformation or online hate. Yet, detecting…
In today's digital age, concerns about online security and privacy have become paramount. However, addressing these issues can be difficult, especially within the context of family relationships, wherein parents and children may have…
Social media platforms have faced increasing scrutiny over whether and how they protect youth online. While online risks to children have been well-documented by prior research, how social media platforms communicate about these risks and…
Social media platforms face escalating challenges in detecting harmful content that promotes muscle dysmorphic behaviors and cognitions (bigorexia). This content can evade moderation by camouflaging as legitimate fitness advice and…
TikTok, a widely-used social media app boasting over a billion monthly active users, requires effective app quality assurance for its intricate features. Feature testing is crucial in achieving this goal. However, the multi-user interactive…
Sharenting, the practice of parents sharing content about their children on social media platforms, has become increasingly common, raising concerns about children's privacy and safety online. This study investigates children's exposure on…
TikTok has been criticized for its low privacy standards, but little is known about how its adolescent users protect their privacy. Based on interviews with 54 adolescents in Switzerland, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of…
TikTok, a popular short video sharing application, emerged as the dominant social media platform for young people, with a pronounced influence on how young women and people of color interact online. The application has become a global space…
Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly embedded in child-facing contexts such as education, companionship, creative tools, but their deployment raises safety, privacy, developmental, and security risks. We conduct a systematic…
Extensive efforts in automated approaches for content moderation have been focused on developing models to identify toxic, offensive, and hateful content with the aim of lightening the load for moderators. Yet, it remains uncertain whether…
Large Language Models (LLMs) are rapidly entering children's lives - through parent-driven adoption, schools, and peer networks - yet current AI ethics and safety research do not adequately address content-related risks specific to minors.…