#BanTikTok is not a new trend in India. This time, it hit the spotlight because of various reasons. It was neither the coronavirus or the economy but rather a TikTok vs YouTube online war that had people taking sides.
In reply to a TikToker Amir Siddique¡¯s video, YouTuber Carry Minati made a roast that was apparently on its way to become India¡¯s most liked video. However, the video was called out for its alleged homophobic and transphobic undertones. It was then taken down by YouTube.?
Carry Minati¡¯s followers, upset with the video being taken down started the trend #SupportCarryMinati and also #BanTikTok India.?
Indians went on Playstore and gave poor ratings to the Chinese app in bulk, bringing its rating down from 4.5 to 2.0 in less than a week.?
However, this is not the only reason why people are asking for TikTok to be banned in India.?
Recently, the National Commission for Women (NCW) filed a complaint against TikTok user Faizal Siddiqui after a video that allegedly 'promoted' violence and acid attacks on women went viral causing massive outrage. Even though the video showed the man throwing ¡®water¡¯ on the girl¡¯s face, it is highly suggestive and degrading in its message.?
This video opened the Pandora¡¯s box for TikTok as more and more videos on the platform, normalising and even glorifying violence against women and domestic abuse surfaced. People asked for a ban on the app, in the hopes it'll stop the creation of such content.?
There were nearly 81 million active monthly users in India who spent over 5.5 billion hours on the platform in 2019.?
In 2019 alone, India was responsible for 277.6 million downloads, which made up almost half (45 per cent) of the number of downloads in the entire year (Sensor Tower, 2019). This is also 60 percent of the total number of downloads in India. In other words, six out of every ten downloads of the TikTok app in India took place in 2019.?
India is followed by China and the United States with 45.5 million (7.4 percent) and 37.6 million (six per cent) downloads respectively.
About 41 per cent of TikTok users belong to the age of 16-24. Basically, they are impressionable teens or young adults, consuming its content nearly for one hour everyday.?
Deeply sexist, misogynist content that revolves around beating girls, or showing them as gold diggers has been circulating on TikTok for quite some time now.?
Videos such as the ones below, normalise domestic abuse, harassment and violence against women. What is horrifying is that there are not only ¡®creators¡¯ creating such content but a large audience that is consuming and enjoying it, without questioning even once what it is that they are being fed. Most of them are teenagers.
Some videos on TikTok are suggestive of crimes as such rape.?
These videos, though do not directly ¡®depict¡¯ rape rather portray someone as having done the deed.
This is reportedly not the first time TikTok has come under lens for not censoring content. In 2019, the app was banned in India after the Madras High Court found it responsible for spreading sexually abusive content, claim reports. The app was banned as it was found it could affect children and young teens.
After the application assured that it would take measures to restrict its problematic content, the ban was lifted.?One year on, TikTok seems to have no filters to censor content, abusive, violent and degrading in nature.?
The fact that NCW has taken note of the nature of the content is a step in the right direction. However, one needs to question the impact these violent, abusive videos have, before being deleted or taken down.?
In a country where movies, advertisement and even television content is sexist and at times misogynist in nature, expecting young teens to make ¡®content¡¯ that is gender neutral and progressive is like expecting a unicorn to appear in front of your house.?
The biggest reason behind TikTok¡¯s fame in India and its biggest achievement has been its ability to reach even the rural India and provide a source of entertainment to people in ¡®B towns¡¯ via its features of regional language. It has given a medium to some talented rural and urban teens to showcase their talent and enjoy instant fame (eg, Baba Jackson).?
However, content that promotes violence against people of a particular gender, sexuality or faith impacts impressionable teens and young adults from every strata of society making them think it is 'okay' to harass, molest or violate women.
One of the reasons behind the creation of such outrageous content is because it finds an audience, so not only the creators but the janta is at fault here. Any content that is violent in nature and promotes abuse cannot be passed off as humour.?
While banning the app might temporarily take away the ¡®medium¡¯ it will not change the mindset that finds it okay to create and consume such questionable content. As more and more content creation apps come to the market (like Google's Tangi), these ¡®creators¡¯ and consumers will simply shift platforms as the desperate want to be famous.
There is a dire need in the country to have proper sex education curriculum in every school which not only sensitises young teen towards sex and sexuality but helps them identify strains of toxic culture and call it out.
There is a need for platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and other social media to identify such demeaning and abject content, have stricter editorial guidelines, and censor its publishing in the first place.
Finally, there is a need to flush out content that normalises sexism, misogyny, misandry, homophobia, transphobia, violence and abuse against one gender from ALL PLATFORMS.?
All views in this article are the author's own.