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UK watchdogs urged to tackle suicide social media content after death of girl, 14

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A 14-year-old schoolgirl’s death after TikTok served her suicide content has prompted renewed calls for UK watchdogs to crack down on “toxic” social media feeds.

Adriana Retyte, a pupil at Langley school in Norfolk, took her own life after she viewed videos and images related to suicide on the video-sharing platform, according to a coroner who last week found her access to the material on TikTok “may have played a significant part in her decision to take her life”.

An inquest heard the teenager’s death had “a devastating effect on those close to her” and that her devices revealed she had “viewed a number of videos and images related to suicide on TikTok in the week preceding her death”.

“It seems that Adriana’s access to this material may have played a significant part in her decision to take her life that evening,” the Norfolk area coroner, Johanna Thompson, said.

Asked to respond, TikTok said its “deepest sympathies are with the family at this incredibly difficult time”.…

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