Two years ago, 16-year-old Chase Nasca took his own life by stepping in front of a moving train. His parents and many others believe TikTok drove him to do it by bombarding him with more than a thousand unsolicited, psychologically disturbing videos.

As Congress weighs legislation that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban, opponents of the social media app say China’s access and control over the platform is just one of its problems. The app, critics say, is uniquely harmful to children and in some cases deadly.

“It would be unwise to fail to acknowledge that what we’re dealing with is the potential exploitation of our children on a mass scale, with the interests of a geopolitical adversary in mind,” Michael Toscano, executive director of the conservative-leaning Institute for Family Studies, said.

Many children using TikTok get a dose of disturbing images the second they open the app.

The “For You” page on the Chinese-affiliated social media platform runs videos on autoplay, often with shocking algorithms that, in the case of Nasca, were centered on violence and suicide.

The Institute for Family Studies filed an amicus brief in the case of TikTok Inc. v. Knudsen siding with Montana’s legally contested legislation that would ban the app unless it separates from its parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance.

Montana is the only state that has moved to ban TikTok but their law is mirrored in federal legislation the House passed last week and which President Biden has pledged to sign. It could lead to a nationwide ban by requiring the sale of TikTok to a non-Chinese entity.

The House bill centers on cutting off China’s access to TikTok and its user data.

But Mr. Toscano and other opponents of the app say the content itself is dangerous, particularly when it comes to children.

Nasca was one of many kids who TikTok critics say fell victim to harmful content on the site.

8-year-old Lalani Erika Walton and 9-year-old Arriani Jaileen Arroyo died in 2021 by accidental self-strangulation.

In separate incidents, the two were attempting the “blackout challenge,” a trend that went viral on TikTok in which users posted videos strangling themselves until they lost consciousness. The videos were featured on Arroyo’s and Walton’s “For You” pages.

Both children were on the social media platform despite TikTok’s requirement that users be at least 13 years old.

Arroyo was found hanging by her dog’s leash in her room. Walton was strangled after tying a rope to her bed, where her bathing suit had been laid out in anticipation of going swimming later in the day.

“As child advocates, we don’t care who owns TikTok if they keep sending suicidal content, harmful content and addictive materials to young people. It doesn’t matter who owns it,” Matthew P. Bergman, who represents the families of Walton, Arroyo and Nasca in lawsuits against TikTok, said. “Separate and apart from appropriate national security concerns is a public safety concern that is omnipresent.”

More than 1,200 families are involved in lawsuits against TikTok and other social media companies and child psychologists are warning parents against allowing children under 16 years old and even 18 years old to access social media apps.

TikTok, they say, is uniquely harmful to children because, unlike YouTube, Instagram and other social media apps, the site uses an algorithm that is designed to aggressively push more and more harmful content. Rather than basing a user’s video feed solely on their preferences, sharing and “likes,” it pushes users “down a rabbit hole,” by feeding it more extreme content based in part on how long a video is viewed.

A person’s feed can quickly be overwhelmed with videos about eating disorders, suicide and other harmful content that can also foster damaging addiction in children.

“The algorithm is watching you, to see what you watch to the end and to see what you watch again. And it starts to customize its offerings,” Dr. Leonard Sax, a pediatrician and psychologist who lectures parents on the online habits of children, told The Washington Times.

Dr. Sax said children believe the app can practically read their minds based on customized video feeds, and not necessarily in a positive way.

The app appears to recognize and exploit users’ vulnerabilities and can accelerate dark and disturbing algorithms that encourage dangerous behavior.

“It’s leading kids down a rabbit hole and girls especially are being sucked into these threads about anorexia, valorizing self-harm, and suicide,” Dr. Sax said.

TikTok has more than 170 million users in the United States. Company representatives did not respond to requests for data on age breakdown, but a 2023 Pew Research Center report that polled nearly 1,500 children ages 13-17 found 63% use Tik Tok and nearly half of them used the app almost constantly or several times a day.

Many users may be young children.

The New York Times in 2020 revealed internal TikTok data that classified more than a third of its daily U.S. users as 14 years old or younger.

In a recent examination of the app’s impact on children, the Center for Countering Digital Hate set up several new TikTok accounts based on profiles of 13-year-olds.

The accounts were paused briefly on videos about body image and mental health, and videos were “liked.”

In less than three minutes, TikTok recommended “suicide content,” and within eight minutes, TikTok served content related to eating disorders. Every 39 seconds, TikTok recommended videos about body image and mental health to teens.

“The results are every parent’s nightmare. Young people’s feeds are bombarded with harmful, harrowing content that can have a significant cumulative impact on their understanding of the world around them, and their physical and mental health, said Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

TikTok last year set up  60-minute daily time limits for children under 18, but users report it is easy to bypass.

China imposes much stricter limits on the app. Teenagers in China can use TikTok for only 40 minutes per day and the content is limited to kid-friendly videos.  

Researchers say the U.S. version of the app is not all harmful content and has helped those with mental health issues find support and information, for example.

A 2023 University of Minnesota study found TikTok’s algorithm could start with helpful videos for those seeking mental health support, but then evolve into a harmful spiral of negative content. Study participants said that clicking on the app’s “Not interested” button did not stop disturbing videos from appearing in their feeds.

TikTok’s U.S. fate now lies in the Senate, where the House-passed bill requiring it to be sold to a non-Chinese company has stalled but appears to have bipartisan support.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew told users last week that the legislation, “will lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States,” if it becomes law and called on users to call the Senate and “make your voices heard.”

Though the bill passed in an overwhelming bipartisan vote in the House, dozens of lawmakers voted against banning the app. The bill’s opponents argued the platform is critical for small businesses and for providing social connections and support for users that would otherwise be difficult to find.

Rep. Robert Garcia said TikTok is a place for gathering information about the world, politics, entertainment and pop culture.

“We know that TikTok is also a space for representation, and banning TikTok also means taking away a voice and a platform for communities of color and queer creators that have made TikTok their home,” the California Democrat said.

Child advocates said forcing new ownership is not going to save kids from TikTok’s harmful content.

“This whole debate about what’s going to happen in the Senate is irrelevant to the topic I discuss with parents, which is whether TikTok is safe,” Dr. Sax said. “The answer is no, which means your kid should not be on it.”

• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.