Combatting online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) requires global efforts from both public and private organisations. We interview our partners at TikTok, who stand firm against all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse online and offline.

What are the reasons your organisation has partnered with INHOPE?

We're focused on providing our community with a joyful, creative, and, above all, safe experience. An essential part of our work involves collaborating with others who share our zero-tolerance approach to all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse. As we continue to work towards our shared mission of eradicating online child sexual abuse, our partnership with INHOPE creates opportunities to exchange best practices and monitor emerging developments. It's also important for us to support the fantastic work that INHOPE does. 

Can you talk about a recent project or achievement you have worked on that focuses on the protection and safety of children?

At TikTok, we don't condone dangerous behaviour that could cause harm and we expect our community to stay safe and create responsibly. We know, however, it's important to equip people with tools to stay safe too. Last year, we launched a global research project to better understand young people's engagement with potentially harmful challenges and hoaxes. While not unique to any one platform, the effects and concerns are felt by all – and we wanted to learn how we might develop even more effective responses.

During the project we surveyed more than 10,000 teens, parents, and teachers; commissioned Praesidio Safeguarding, an independent safeguarding agency, to write a report to capture key findings and recommendations; and convened a panel of 14 leading youth safety experts from around the world to review and provide input into the report (which can be read here). Although this project wasn't specifically focused on child sexual abuse and exploitation, Dr Hilton's report contains important insights about risk-taking and critical thinking in adolescence that are equally applicable to other online safety issues - including grooming. The report also considers what those of us working to protect children online can learn from academic research into risk prevention strategies that have been a strong evidence base for efficacy in the offline world.  

Have you implemented any changes based on the research findings?

We used the findings to inform a review of our policies and processes. We also:

• Launched a dedicated online challenges page on our safety centre, housing information and advice for teens, caregivers, and educators.

• Changed how our Community Guidelines are structured, highlighting dangerous acts and challenges in a dedicated policy category, so it's even easier for our community to familiarize themselves with these guidelines.

• Worked with 38 TikTok creators from 13 countries to develop safety videos calling on our community to learn about how to assess challenges and warnings through the 4-step process (Stop, Think, Decide and Act).

These are just some of the steps we've taken to make a thoughtful contribution to this topic, and we will continue to explore other measures we can take to support our community.

Keep up to date with the latest work from our partners here.