Danger of TikTok medicine

DANGEROUS prescription-only medications for epilepsy, addiction and migraines are being openly marketed on TikTok, according to an investigation from the Pharmaceutical Journal, with British teenagers being told they are good for weight loss. Experts have raised concerns as the drugs can have serious sideeffects. While the majority of posts identified have now been taken down by TikTok chiefs, others still remain. When are we going to clamp down on social media companies and insist they take responsibility for things that are posted on their sites?

We have given them too long a leash, labouring in the outdated notion that these are lean, fun, funky start-ups run by harmless hipsters when, in fact, they are multibillion-dollar companies. Where else could a company get away with what they do? If this newspaper published content suggesting children take dangerous medication to lose weight all hell would — rightly — break loose. What’s the difference?