LONDON – TikTok is now the most used single source of news across all platforms for teenagers in the UK, German news agency (dpa) quoted a new research from UK communications regulator Ofcom.
The regulator’s News Consumption In The UK 2022/23 report found TikTok is the favoured single news source among 12- to 15-year-olds.
TikTok is most popular with young people and used by 28 per cent of teenagers, followed by YouTube and Instagram, both at 25 per cent, according to the figures.
But taking into account all news content across its platforms, the BBC still has the highest reach of any news organisation among this age group – used by 39 per cent of teenagers.
It comes after the UK government banned ministers from using TikTok, which is a Chinese-owned video-sharing app, on their work phones following a security review.
The House of Commons and the Lords also cited security concerns as they decided to ban the app across the Palace of Westminster.
TikTok, owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance, argues it does not share data with China.
However, Beijing’s intelligence legislation requires firms to help the Communist Party when requested.
When considering perceptions of trust, teenagers rated traditional sources better than their online counterparts, as BBC One/Two was trusted by 82 per cent of its teenage users, compared to TikTok at 32 per cent, Instagram at 38 per cent, Facebook at 41 per cent and Snapchat at 31 per cent. Twitter was the exception, with a 50 per cent rating on trust, Ofcom found.
The news topics of most interest to younger teens generally are “sports or sports personalities” (23 per cent), “music news or singers” (15 per cent), “celebrities or famous people” (11 per cent), “serious things going on in the UK” (eight per cent) and news about “animals or the environment” (nine per cent).
Meanwhile, those aged 16 to 24 are much less likely than the average adult to access news from traditional media sources, such as TV (47 vs 70 per cent), radio (25 vs 40 per cent) and print newspapers (16 vs 26 per cent).
Social media platforms dominate the top five most popular news sources among 16- to 24-year-olds. Instagram is the most-used single news source at 44 per cent, followed by Facebook at 33 per cent, Twitter at 31 per cent, and TikTok at 29 per cent. Coming in joint second, BBC One at 33 per cent is the only traditional media source to feature in the top five.
But Ofcom said its figures show broadcast TV news maintains its position as the most popular source among adults in the UK, used by 70 per cent, which rises to 75 per cent when broadcast video on-demand news content is included.
BBC One remains the most-used news single source across all platforms at 49 per cent, followed by ITV at 34 per cent – although both channels have seen gradual declines over the past five years as they are down from 62 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively.
Similarly, Facebook – the third most popular news source among adults – is showing signs of decline, from 33 to 30 per cent over the same period.
TikTok’s popularity as a source of news for adults is growing, with one in 10 adults saying they use it to keep up with the latest stories – overtaking BBC Radio 1 and Channel 5, both at eight per cent for the first time. – Bernama
