PARENTS are being urgently warned that their children can access porn and be exposed to fake health advice on TikTok.
Although thousands of Brits spend their evenings scrolling on the app, it can be potentially life-threatening in the wrong hands.
An investigation by the Sunday Telegraph uncovered videos accessible by kids that contain links to porn, self-harm, and dangerous health advice.
These include tips on how to lose 5kg in a week as content creators disguise what is essentially starvation as "detox cleanses".
One viral trend even included swallowing pills that allegedly expelled any parasites in your body - but it is "utter nonsense" according to experts.
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Professor David Strain, chair of the British Medical Association Board of Science, told the paper the “real concern is the mental impact.”
“If you go through life thinking the bacteria you’re dependent on will do you harm, it can cause psychological damage."
Another dangerous piece of advice specifically targeted towards young girls was to use vinegar to treat thrush.
A juice for "vaginal health" was also being marketed to girls as young as 13 which claimed to "cleanse cysts fibroids and stagnant blood from the womb [and] kill infections and parasites".
The investigation discovered a hoard of accounts "diagnosing" users' health conditions - only to bombard them with anti-anxiety product advertisements.
But harmful messages were not only launched at girls - young boys were being exposed to toxic masculinity.
The Sunday Telegraph investigation found children's accounts were being told to "become a man" and were encouraged to buy "testosterone boosting" supplements.
Violence shown on the app was also a terrifying discovery for investigators.
They reported scenes of murder investigations and knife attacks.
One account called Masculine Uprising, preached to boys that women will try and manipulate men and that lipstick should be banned.
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Self harm content can also be particularly distressing and triggering - but it was accessed within minutes on TikTok.
Different accounts showed young children what they could use to physically harm themselves and suicide content was included in this.
Inappropriate sexual videos could also be accessed easily on both apps with accounts writing "hey, you can see my webcam show, just follow me" in their bio.
TikTok earlier introduced a new feature to allow parents to control what their children view.
And the Sun revealed six settings parents need to change right now to protect your kids.
