"Dilated pupils, high on camera and often alone. On TikTok, more and more young people are publicly filming their drug use. The videos reach millions, often under a single hashtag: #Pingtok. The trend reflects a new visibility of drug use on social media. What once happened behind closed doors is now filmed, aestheticized and shared publicly sometimes with life-threatening consequences, and often unnoticed by parents."
""Since I started talking about addiction on TikTok, I get a lot of messages," says influencer Sarah in an interview with DW. "What really scares me is that many of them are minors." She became addicted to drugs at the age of 15. Today, the 26-year-old uses TikTok to talk openly about addiction and withdrawal. Many of her followers who encountered drugs through TikTok, she says, are even younger."
""The safety and well-being of our community is a top priority. We prohibit the depiction, promotion or sale of drugs or other controlled substances and remove this content from the platform over 99 percent of content violating these rules is removed before it is reported." What lies behind #Pingtok But #Pingtok shows how easily these rules can be bypassed. Users speak in codes. They use emojis, sounds and newly coined terms to evade platform moderation."
Young people are increasingly filming and sharing drug use on TikTok under the hashtag #Pingtok, making drug scenes widely visible to millions. Videos often aestheticize drug use, focus on physical signs, and can have life-threatening consequences while remaining unnoticed by parents. Platform algorithms amplify similar content as users scroll, making exposure one click away. Creators and viewers use codes, emojis and sounds to bypass moderation. Many minors encounter drugs through these clips, and influencers who speak about addiction receive messages from young people reporting trauma and a lack of trusted adults to talk to.
Read at www.dw.com
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