A pandemic? Eh, who cares about that? Indians definitely have bigger issues at hand - the removal of CarryMinati's video from YouTube, for coming across as homophobic and transphobic.?
Outrageous, right??
Before anyone starts taking this tone seriously, it's important to point out the sarcasm, because clearly, people are taking everything a little too far these days. Ever since CarryMinati's video - full of gay slurs - was removed, Indians have been demanding 'justice for him' and lashing out at TikTok, in this YouTube vs TikTok war.
Not happy with their favourite 'social media influencer's' video being taken down from YouTube, his fans started down-voting TikTok for creating 'cringe-worthy' content.
Thanks to this, a plethora of memes and jokes are being shared on social media with the hashtag #tiktokbanindia. So, while the world fights off a pandemic, Indians are at loggerheads for a whole other reason.
They might make you cringe. They might make you laugh. Who can be the judge here? Definitely not TikTok.
TikTok's Google Playstore rating fell from 4.5 to 3.2 in less than a week and as things progressed for #CarrySupporters, the present rating now stands at 1.3. The hate against the app isn't new but this time, it took a whole different turn.?
While the whole thing started with people dissing the app for its 'cringe' content, people soon started noticing violent content that is also available on the app. There are users who misuse the platform and promote content that is harmful and might have implications far beyond the virtual world - the latest one being a video posted by Faizal Siddiqui.
People have been campaigning to get the app banned, however, that might not guarantee the elimination of inappropriate content altogether. It is more likely that people will find another app to do the same thing. So, individuals need to be held accountable for their actions, and apps and platforms like TikTok and YouTube need to better monitor content that is going up.
The bigger problem at hand isn't just one platform, it's the mentality of the people who are creating harmful and inappropriate content. It is, of course, not wrong to call out TikTok for allowing violent content on its platform, but it is also not wise to condone a YouTube video that comes across as blatantly homophobhic.