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Old October 9th, 2021 #25
Stewart Meadows
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Join Date: May 2018
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Quote:
New ultraviolent ‘slap a teacher’ craze exposes failings in TikTok’s efforts to ban traumatic videos among impressionable teens


Damian Wilson
is a UK journalist, ex-Fleet Street editor, financial industry consultant and political communications special advisor in the UK and EU.


8 Oct, 2021 17:35



Violent assaults against defenceless victims caught on smartphones and shared online for amusement are no new thing, so why has TikTok not managed to come to terms with preventing these unacceptable and grossly offensive videos?

In this age of quantum leaps in technology and seemingly endless possibilities about what we can do with our smartphones nothing is really that novel. So, while disturbing, it’s not surprising to see a new craze of violent assault videos being recklessly shared among TikTok’s one billion users.
(...)
While they might attempt to shift the blame, we must hold TikTok to account. When a video of a sucide went viral, the sharing service blamed a coordinated attack from the ‘dark web’ for spreading the traumatising clip. When accused of spreading content that glamorised eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia, it issued an anodyne statement claiming the safety of its users was its top priority. And when it was found to be used by Islamic State terrorists to share propaganda, the PR department announced, “Content promoting terrorist organisations has absolutely no place on TikTok.”

TikTok makes all the right noises when it’s called out on these issues but it needs to do more in preventing them from happening in the first place. It’s no use taking a video down once it’s been viewed several million times. The damage is done. User data has already been gathered and, of course, the money already made.

If Bytedance is to be allowed to operate within a nation’s borders making billions in the process with just a hint of taxes extracted, then it needs to be more accountable, not just in financial terms but in the realm of social responsibility.

We can’t have massive, foreign-owned corporations disseminating ultraviolent videos among our youngsters, accountable to no one but themselves and left to police their own behaviour. It’s just a bonkers idea to even think that is acceptable.

So let’s crack down on TikTok. Let’s hammer them with hefty fines for every video that promotes assault, terrorism, pornography, eating disorders and even suicide and keep hammering them until they receive the message and take preventative steps.
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/537006-slap...enge-concerns/

From the comment section:

Quote:
Shawn Bradley • 7 hours ago
Teens have a huge capacity for evil if encouraged. Look at the Chinese Cultural Revolution as a good example. Teens having fun by being cruel towards their elders. American teens lack guidance because their parents are lazy. Teens without good role models are scary.
Quote:
Beija Flor • 21 hours ago
Only "Slap" a teacher? During the Chinese cultural revolution, all teachers were purged and sent to labor camps, students have no school. Let's import this Made in China revolution into the US.