In 2020, all eyes in the tech world were on TikTok. Taking exception to the app’s Chinese backers and potential security threats, the US government tried to get the service banned. But we have seemingly turned the page on this moral panic in 2021, now that the app’s forced sale has been avoided. So which social media platform is thought to be the least secure these days? Hint: it isn’t TikTok.
The University of New South Wales Sydney conducted a survey to find out which social media app is thought to be the least secure by the public. The school polled social media users from the US, the UK, and Australia, and discovered that people believe Facebook is far less untrustworthy than TikTok. Here’s the full infographic:
When asked which app poses the greatest security risk, 66% respondents were specifically concerned about Facebook. Meanwhile, TikTok concerned only 59%, followed by Facebook-owned Instagram (53%), Snapchat (50%), Twitter (47%), YouTube (40%), and LinkedIn (37%).
The distrust of Facebook was primarily led by baby boomers, while only 36% of Gen Z believed TikTok posed a security risk. It would seem that the great majority of those who find TikTok unsafe belong to Gen X (70%). Millennials (53%) feel that Instagram poses the biggest threat.
Facebook’s reputation is likely hurt by the fact that a full 57% of respondents have had their account hacked or data compromised in some way. By comparison, 38% of Instagram users and 32% of Twitter users reported security breaches. Only 12% of Tiktok users reported the same.
