Four out of ten middle school children in Sweden have used TikTok in past year

A recent report reveals that four out of ten middle school children in Sweden have used TikTok at least once in the past year, a noticeable drop from seven out of ten three years ago. This change may be influenced by the ongoing debate over screen time among youth, according to Jannike Tillå from the Internet Foundation. Additionally, new EU laws require platforms to enhance their efforts to prevent children under the age of 13 from accessing them.

It remains unclear whether middle school children have refrained from using Snapchat and TikTok due to restrictions or if they have abandoned these platforms altogether. Tillå suggests that these channels appear to be losing popularity, given that fewer young users are actively engaging with them.

The report titled “Swedes and the Internet” studies the online habits of Swedish citizens and has been conducted annually since 2000. It forms part of the World Internet Project (WIP), an international initiative tracking internet usage and proliferation globally. A total of 3,040 interviews were conducted between January 9 and January 25, 2024, alongside 621 additional interviews with children and adolescents aged 8 to 19.

This data underscores a shift in social media use among younger demographics in Sweden, raising questions about the effects of new regulations and cultural conversations surrounding screen time.