TikTok has denied the platform is addictive, telling members of an Oireachtas committee that users must make a “conscious choice” to scroll.
Several social media and tech companies, including TikTok, Snapchat, Microsoft, Google and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, appeared before a committee meeting on the safety of children online on Thursday.
Several committee members remarked how they had previously heard from children and teenagers about spending hours scrolling on apps, particularly TikTok.
However, Richard Collard, the app’s minor safety public policy lead, denied the platform was addictive.
“We wouldn’t agree with the term ‘addictive’. That doesn’t mean we don’t take the wellbeing of children incredibly seriously,” he said.
