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University of Michigan School of Information

Sandvig: Sexualized videos on TikTok creating issues for new users

UMSI Professor Christian Sandvig was quoted by the Washington Post in an article about sexualized videos on TikTok creating issues for new users. A headshot of Christian Sandvig.

Thursday, 12/15/2022

TikTok’s algorithm is recommending unwanted sexualized content for new users. 

An article in the Washington Post explores how TikTok’s algorithm, replicated by social media platforms like Instagram, is set up to show new users popular — and often suggestive — content that’s difficult to filter out, even over time. 

University of Michigan School of Information professor Christian Sandvig discusses the consequences of TikTok’s algorithm. Sandvig, the director of the Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing at UMSI, is an expert on social media algorithms. 

“They call this the cold-start problem. How do you make a behavioral prediction without any behavior?” Sandvig says. 

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Read “They came to TikTok for fun. They got stuck with sexualized videos”

Learn more about the Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing. 

Read more about Sandvig in his UMSI faculty profile.