'War Is Coming’ - TikTok Used To Scare Swedish Children

Sweden’s youth are being shown the potential for war by TikTok to the dismay of children and young teenagers. Some can’t sleep. Some ask their parents if Russia is about to attack their country.  “War is coming,” say some TikTok videos that the social media platform is aimed at Swedish children.  Other videos say that Russian forces will bomb their country.

The Chinese-owned, algorithm-driven platform is a perfect tool for a country wishing to weaken another country’s morale.

Twitter users in Sweden have asked about the potential for war and dozens of parents to report that their young children had suddenly begun asking if Russia was about to invade. “My 11-year-old was extremely frightened yesterday and asked whether there was going to be war soon,” one mother wrote. Other parents reported that their children suddenly seemed anxious. When they asked what was the matter, it turned out the kids had been seeing the same kind of videos on TikTok. 

Elementary-school teachers reported that pupils had mentioned similar fears and so other parents checked with their children and sure enough, they’d seen them too. 

Recently, the Swedish daily Aftonbladet reported that BRIS, a nationwide Swedish organisation that advocates for children’s rights and operates a hotline for children and teenagers, had begun receiving phone calls from children and teenagers anxious about an impending invasion. A concerned social worker told the newspaper that TikTok’s efficient algorithm, which has perfected individualised feeds, means that children and teenagers who view such videos once are consequently fed more of the same and end up overwhelmed by fear of a looming conflict. 

A more balanced review is in the newspapers, but few children and teenagers read the newspaper: in Sweden, 3% do so on a daily basis. Some 30%, by contrast, use TikTok.

As with most other disinformation, no country has claimed responsibility, but Russia has a clear interest in sowing fear and confusion in a country that has in recent years begun to rebuild its defenses. Sweden has recently sent  additional soldiers to its Baltic Sea island of Gotland.

The source of the TikTok fear campaign could, of course, also be another country wishing to weaken Sweden’s resolve, China comes to mind, or it could simply be TikTik malcontents with nothing better to do. 

But in the fight against disinformation, the most pressing goal isn’t finding the perpetrator, it’s finding an antidote to the lies. Fortunately, Sweden has a new psychological defense agency tasked with doing precisely that. The Swedish Psychological Defense Agency (MPN) was launched on New Year’s Day to strengthen the public’s resilience to disinformation. 

With the TikTok disinformation campaign in full swing, the Psychological Defense Agency will need to swiftly issue advice, on TikTok perhaps, to children, teenagers, parents, and teachers.

Aftonbladet:    TikTok:     DefenseOne:    MPF:     UpjobsNews:    Newsbreak:    Industry Update: 

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