TikTok brainwashed me into being transgender — now I’m detransitioningBy Asia Grace
July 7, 2023
At age 13, Ash Eskridge was severely under the influence, but not of drugs or alcohol — of TikTok.
The brunette told The Post that trendsetters on the popular app wrongfully convinced her that she was transgender.
“I saw TikTok videos by influencers saying how that transitioning saved their life,” said Eskridge, now 16, from Missoula, Missouri.
After becoming depressed at 12, she leaned on the virtual platform as an emotional crutch.
“I was struggling and wanted it to save my life, too,” she told South West News Service.
It was just after the pandemic that the Gen Zer joined the crowd: As part of what’s been dubbed “Generation COVID,” Ash spent the majority of her recreational hours scrolling through social media, where viral hashtags such as #transgender and #trans have amassed a staggering 21.5 billion and 59.6 billion views, respectively.
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In December 2022, the Center for Countering Digital Hate also determined that TikTok’s algorithm funnels mentally and emotionally damaging content — such as suicide and eating disorders — to adolescents within minutes of creating a profile.
Meanwhile, The Post’s March 2023 undercover investigation of the app also found that it directed harmfully persuasive visuals to teens.
In Eskridge’s case, she said the videos on her timeline “brainwashed” her into transitioning.
“Being transgender is definitely a TikTok trend that all began around 2020,” she told The Post of the apparent social media wave. “I notice that the demographic it most affects is teen girls around 12 to 14, as they’re the most vulnerable since they aren’t matured yet,” she continued, noting that most trans folks in her age demographic would likely disagree.
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“I know that all of the kids who are also being pushed to [take part in the transgender] trend definitely think they’re 100% right and that it wasn’t caused by TikTok, because that’s how I felt, too,” Eskridge acknowledged.
“But I’d say maybe 1% of the trans teens on TikTok are actually trans,” she claimed without evidence. “The rest, influenced.”
Her parents, Sean and Darcy, told SWNS that they were doubtful that Eskridge — a lifelong “girly-girl” — was, in fact, transgender. However, they supported her decision to live as a male.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/07/07/teens-says-tiktok-influenced-her-to-identify-as-transgender/
