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Algorithmic recommendations can be particularly dangerous when they target children and
<br /> teens' greatest vulnerabilities. Investigations have repeatedly demonstrated the way social
<br /> media feeds deliver harmful mental health and eating disorder content to accounts registered
<br /> to minors. A December 2022 report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found
<br /> that newly created TikTok accounts registered to teenagers that watched or liked videos about
<br /> body image, mental health, or eating disorders received videos in their For You feed related to
<br /> self-harm, suicide, or eating disorders within minutes.86 These videos appeared on the
<br /> accounts' For You feeds every 206 seconds on average. CCDH also studied the For You feeds of
<br /> newly created TikTok accounts registered to teenagers that included the phrase "loseweight" in
<br /> their usernames. Those accounts received videos about self-harm, suicide, or eating disorders
<br /> in their For You feeds every 66 seconds on average.87
<br /> Other reports have made similar findings: A 2021 Wall Street Journal investigation documented
<br /> how TikTok users were served videos that encouraged eating disorders and discussed suicide."
<br /> The same year, Senator Richard Blumenthal's office created an account for a fake 13-year-old
<br /> girl that "liked" content about dieting, and the account was served pro-eating disorder and self-
<br /> harm content within 24 hours.89 Young users' engagement with this harmful content is valuable
<br /> to tech companies: Our 2022 report detailed how Meta profits from 90,000 unique pro-eating
<br /> disorder accounts that reach 20 million people, one-third of whom are minors, some as young
<br /> as nine.90
<br /> Content recommendation algorithms also expose minors to videos of dangerous viral
<br /> "challenges," which has tragically led to the serious injury and death of many young people. For
<br /> example, media reports have documented how "the blackout challenge" on TikTok, in which
<br /> young people hold their breath or choke themselves until they pass out, is responsible for the
<br /> deaths of several children.91 Many families say that their children learned about the challenge
<br /> through recommended videos on their For You feeds.92
<br /> V. Apps, websites, and platforms target children with unfair surveillance advertising and
<br /> influencer marketing techniques.
<br /> 86 Center for Countering Digital Hate,Deadly by Design:Tik Tok Pushes Harmful Content Promoting Eating
<br /> Disorders and Self-harm into users'feeds, (Dec. 15,2022),.!2.:U-..)....//Ica.u,,l.:.i".:.I:.: :'..::Ica,l ./.!:::'.a.:.:":.!: . ./ ::":. ..L.Y.::.I:�.Y::.�.::".ai. n
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<br /> 88 Wall Street Journal Staff,Inside TikTok's Algorithm:A WSJ Video Investigation,Wall Street Journal, (July 21,
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<br /> 89Nihal Krishan,Senate office impersonates 13-year-old girl on Instagram to flag eating disorder content,Yahoo
<br /> News, (Sep.30 2021), P uu;ra.�� 7rP psi srr�r`"..rnua ru r�rnrra.rnu�a„ rn:� a...office irnp E�2!Hit s 13 old.:���
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<br /> 9° Fairplay,Designing for Disorder:Instagram's Pro-eating Disorder Bubble at 1 (Apr.2022),
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<br /> 9'Olivia Carville, TikTok's Viral Challenges Keep Luring Young Kids to Their Deaths, Bloomberg, (Nov.30,2022),
<br /> /iS-tikt k._1(:,1 oonsil:)Ie-if-kids :_Ju)2p rou.�a-wiral-
<br /> I,„LLB:„„ig„a;Anne Marie Lee,Child deaths blamed on TikTok 'blackout challenge'spark outcry,CBS News, (Aug. 19,
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<br /> 92Michael Levenson and April Rubin, Parents Sue TikTok,Saying Children Died After Viewing 'Blackout Challenge',
<br /> New York Times (July 6 2022),.I2.Lta... � ............r........../ f............ ................. .................................................................... . ..... I:)I I<o.t .I� I.II.i� ..�..:..... � ...� i a. i L �<
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<br /> Testimony of Josh Golin, Fairplay, February 14, 2023 14
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