TikTok's drip-feed of misogyny forces boys and girls into separate online worlds within minutes, research finds

Girls and boys are being pushed into strikingly different online worlds built on misogyny and toxic gender stereotypes within just 20 minutes of opening a new TikTok account, according to new research from girls' rights charity Plan International UK.

Researchers created fictional TikTok accounts representing 13 to 16-year-old boys and girls, based on typical interests including gaming, football, dance and music, and tracked the content they were recommended over five days.

Within minutes, accounts representing girls were shown videos promoting unrealistic beauty standards and luxury lifestyles, while accounts representing boys were served content glorifying wealth, physical strength and emotional isolation, alongside misogynistic narratives. 

After an hour of scrolling, some accounts were recommended content relating to self-harm and suicide. Researchers reported this content to TikTok, but in all cases, the content was deemed not to breach its community guidelines - despite content of this nature being classified as an offence under the UK's Online Safety Act. 

Kathleen Spencer-Chapman, Director of Influencing and External Affairs at Plan International UK, said: "Our research shows that misogyny is not confined to the darkest corners of the internet, it is woven into the everyday content that children are fed without asking for it.

"While girls are more likely to recognise and call out sexist content, boys are too often trapped in an online echo chamber where narrow ideas of masculinity centred on money and dominance are normalised.  

"The attitudes shaped online rarely stay online – they influence how young people see themselves, how they treat one another and how they understand the world around them. If we allow algorithms to keep pushing this content, girls will continue to bear the brunt of a rise in misogyny, and we will see hard-won progress towards gender equality placed at risk.

“Children don't want to be excluded from social media. They want safer online spaces where harmful content isn’t rewarded by algorithms designed to keep children scrolling. The UK Government must strengthen the Online Safety Act so that tech companies are legally required to design social media platforms that put the safety and wellbeing of young people first.”

The ‘From Memes to Misogyny’ report - which also looked at the impact of content on Instagram and YouTube – suggests that boys are more likely to become immersed in an online environment where narrow and harmful ideas about masculinity go unchallenged, particularly as they are mostly disguised as jokes and memes. Girls, meanwhile, were more able to recognise and reject content promoting harmful gender norms.

The findings reflect children’s own experiences online. A representative survey of more than 1,400 children aged 7-17 across the UK found:

• Seven in ten girls (70%) and more than two-thirds of boys (67%) regularly see messages online telling them how they should look, behave, dress or what careers and interests they should pursue.
• Almost one in three girls (32%) and nearly one in four boys (23%) said content they had seen online had stopped them acting, dressing or behaving in ways they wanted to.
• Nearly two-thirds (62%) of 11-17-year-olds want social media companies to do more to remove harmful content.

Plan International UK is warning this imbalance risks isolating boys even further while continuing to prop up endemic violence against women and girls.

Commenting on the research, psychologist Dr Tara Quinn-Cirillo said: “The gendered content being pushed into children’s feeds is reaching them at a crucial stage of brain development. Exposure to harmful content during this period can have a lasting impact on young people’s attitudes and behaviour.

“Our identities, beliefs and sense of self continue developing well beyond adolescence. When aggressive and misogynistic behaviour is repeatedly presented as normal or acceptable online, it can create pressure for boys to conform to these ideas in real life, while reinforcing narrow expectations about what it means to be a man.

“Girls can then bear the consequences too, as these harmful attitudes can affect how boys view and treat them, as well as girls’ own sense of self and safety. If we want to make the online world safer for girls, we have to make it safer for boys too.”

Ealaf, 18, member of Plan International UK's Youth Advisory Panel said: "Content I've seen on social media has changed how I present myself. For example, if I'm popping to the shops, I'm now hyperaware that I might see someone I know and that it's a bad thing if I don't look put together. Or, if I'm going into professional space, I feel an expectation that my hair must look the best it's ever been and I have to dress in a particular way."

"I see narratives pushing the idea that women should stay at home when they have kids and shouldn't work. In the moment, it can be a lot harder to notice the harm this content is doing. As an ambitious young woman who wants to enter competitive fields, there is a nagging feeling that people are going to look down on me because I want to become a lawyer, a journalist, or work in politics."

Plan International UK is calling on the UK government to strengthen the Online Safety Act and require tech companies to design social media platforms that put young people’s safety and wellbeing ahead of engagement. 

-- Ends --

Notes to editors:

The full report can be found at plan-uk.org/onlineharms 

Methodology:

The research was conducted by CHILDWISE on behalf of Plan International UK and included:

• A nationally representative survey of 1,440 children and young people aged 7-17 across the UK, including 752 boys, 677 girls and 11 non-binary young people, between 24 February and 27 March 2026
• Qualitative workshops with secondary school pupils in London and Cardiff
• Algorithm testing using six synthetic TikTok personas designed to explore how platform recommendations shape children's online experiences.