Why is TikTok allowing dangerous trends to be pushed on teens?

TikTok has come under fire for exposing teenagers to dangerous trends including ‘rape culture’, how to hotwire new cars and a vile ‘blackout challenge’ that has killed youngsters.

The social media giant has failed to strip down misogynistic comments by former kickboxer Andrew Tate, footage of thugs stealing KIAs and Hyundias and content encouraging children to asphyxiate themselves.

These all come despite the tech giant having extensive community guidelines spelled out on its website, including rules on dangerous acts and challenges, hateful behavior and against promoting suicide or harm.

But it could soon be held more accountable across the US for content on the site under the Combating Harmful Actions with Transparency on Social Act.

The bill seeks to combat dangers to children and and boost transparency into which apps are being used for heinous crimes.

TikTok is not the only outlet to battle horrific content on its site, with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all being hauled over the coals in recent months for failing to moderate themselves effectively.

TikTok has taken the social media world by storm since its global launch in 2017, allowing users to share short bursts of content that range from innocent dance routines to perilous challenges.

The China-based firm has also proven popular with celebrities and the media, with both groups using it to expand their reach.

What is being done to hold TikTok accountable and what is the tech giant doing?

Social media giants had appeared to have a free reign to leave these shocking challenges up in previous years as governments figured out a way to crack down on them.

But now legislation is being brought in across the world to hold them accountable, with the bipartisan Combating Harmful Actions with Transparency on Social Act leading the charge.

The bill seeks to direct the FBI and Justice Department to collect and report on data on crimes involving social media.

It looks to establish data collection guidelines so when local law enforcement files a police report they would check a box stating whether a social media platform is suspected to have been involved in the crime.

It also wants to directs the Attorney General to publish an annual statistical report detailing which internet platforms are connected to which crimes.

And this data is sort to pay special attention to offenses committed against or by children, allowing us to better understand the role of social media in crime and its impacts on children.

One of those pushing the act is Republican Rep and attorney Josh Gottheimer, who last week on Twitter reemphasized its importance.

He wrote: ‘The lack of transparency and accountability for social media companies has led to grave consequences for our kids, families, and national security. That’s why I introduced the bipartisan CHATS Act.

‘The Combating Harmful Actions with Transparency on Social Act takes steps to hold social media companies accountable, combat dangers to our kids, and boost transparency into which apps are being used for which crimes.

‘Social media platforms allow for drugs to be ordered on demand — like Amazon Prime or a pizza delivery. Kids don’t even have to leave their neighborhoods, let alone their houses.

‘We also know that China and TikTok have access to our kids’ and Americans’ private data. I worked on this bill with @DrLauraBerman & Samuel Chapman, the parents of Sammy Chapman, a 16-year-old who died from an overdose in his bedroom after buying fentanyl-laced Xanax from a drug dealer on @Snapchat, and Marc Berkman, CEO of @socialmedsafety.’

Meanwhile TikTok is among social media firms to bring in rigorous community guidelines to supposedly crack down on the dangerous trends pedaled on its site.

Its website is split into 14 sections, including on: dangerous acts and challenges, suicide or self harm and violent and graphic content.

The first says: ‘We do not permit users to share content depicting, promoting, normalizing or glorifying dangerous acts that may lead to serious injury or death.

‘We also do not allow content which promotes or endorses collective participation in dangerous or harmful activities that violate any aspect of our Community Guidelines.

‘We define dangerous acts or other dangerous behavior as activities conducted in a non-professional context or without the necessary skills and safety precautions that may lead to serious injury or death for the user or the public. This includes amateur stunts or dangerous challenges.’

In its suicide and self harm section, TikTok says: ‘We care deeply about the health and well-being of the individuals who make up our community.

‘We do not allow content depicting, promoting, normalizing, or glorifying activities that could lead to suicide, self-harm, or disordered eating.

‘However, we do support members of our community sharing their personal experiences with these issues in a safe way to raise awareness and find community support.

‘We also encourage individuals who are struggling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm, or who know someone is seriously considering suicide, to immediately contact local emergency services or a suicide prevention hotline.

‘In the event that our intervention could help a user who may be at risk of harming themselves, TikTok may also alert local emergency services.’

And in the violent and graphic content part, it adds: ‘TikTok is a platform that celebrates creativity but not shock value or violence.

‘We do not allow content that is gratuitously shocking, graphic, sadistic, or gruesome or that promotes, normalizes, or glorifies extreme violence or suffering on our platform.

‘When it is a threat to public safety, we ban the account and, when warranted, we will report it to relevant legal authorities.’ DailyMail.com has approached TikTok for further comment.

Former Kickboxer TikTok star who glamorizes ‘rape culture’ on social media giant

This week TikTok has been thrust into the spotlight again for its lax crackdown on harmful content after rape charities slammed Tate for his ‘misogynistic rape culture’ videos.

Raised on an estate in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, the son of a catering assistant and an American-born chess master is no stranger to controversy.

But in the last three months the Chicago-born athlete, described as the ‘king of toxic masculinity,’ has been searched on Google more than Donald Trump or Kim Kardashian.

Today, he’s worth an estimated $24million, with millions of social media followers. He also has thousands of acolytes emulating him in his $39-a-month ($47) ‘Hustler’s University’.

It sees self-described experts use Discord servers to promise followers get rich quick schemes using cryptocurrency, property or e-commerce.

The former Big Brother UK contestant’s career has been mired in controversy, with accusations of misogyny, racism and human trafficking cropping up throughout his six years in the limelight.

Despite a successful kickboxing career that saw him win two international titles, Tate’s spectacular rise to fame has been linked to the proliferation of British teenagers using the Chinese video sharing platform TikTok.

On its shady social media pages, impressionable boys as young as 13 are exposed to the rants and ravings of a man who once told rape victims to ‘bear responsibility’ and has openly described hitting and choking women.

In one clip shared online, in which he acts out how he would attack a woman if she accused him of cheating, Tate says: ‘It’s bang out the machete, boom in her face and grip her by the neck. Shut up b****.’

Leading domestic abuse charities have warned such content is extremely misogynistic and has the potential to radicalize men to bring harm to the real world.

Tate has attracted attention and controversy for his outlandish comments that promote ‘male-female interaction’ such as throwing a woman’s possessions out of a window, and describing an ex-girlfriend as a ‘dumb h**’.

In seemingly harmless online clips, the cigar-smoking playboy quips that he only drinks sparkling water and that men should shirk cats and instead own dogs as pets. But his messages also adopt a darker tone.

Other videos purportedly show Tate explaining why being able to ‘make an imprint’ means he only dates women aged 18 to 19. Across various clips he says women belong at home, should not drive and are a man’s property.

Various reports about his personal wealth see his net worth range from $20 to $230million. In recent interviews he claimed to make his first million at 27, while earning $100million by the time he was 31.

The influencer has benefited from hundreds of online profiles that push traffic to his ‘Hustler’s University’ website that offers training courses on ‘escaping the rat race’ and accumulating vast wealth.

Tate’s professional kickboxing career took off while he was working as TV producer in his 20s. In 2005 he won a cruiserweight championship and picked up his second title, the ISKA World Full-Contact Light Cruiserweight Championship, in 2013.

He hit the headlines again when he was kicked out of the Big Brother house in 2016 over a video that showed him hitting a woman with a belt. 

Later clips emerged showing Tate telling a woman to count the bruises he had allegedly caused. Both Tate and the woman in the video have denied any abuse occurred, and said the clips showed a consensual sexual relationship.

Other videos show Tate openly discussing a time when he claims he accidentally broke a woman’s jaw in a nightclub after his phone was knocked out of hand.

In another, he explains how he was investigated by police for allegedly abusing a woman, which he has strenuously denied. It is around this time he is understood to have moved to Romania, explaining that he is ‘not a rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want – I like being free’.

Tate’s father, Emory Andrew Tate II, also used to make headlines in his heyday – as a ‘trailblazer for African-American chess’ during his stellar career in the game.

He was ranked the 72nd highest-rated chess player in the United States in 2006, and in 2007 he received the international master title. 

Tate II also served in the US Air Force, working in England and Germany before returning to Chicago, to have his first child – Emory Andrew Tate III.

In the last five years of his life, he spent time in the Bay Area teaching chess to schoolchildren. 

On October 17 2015, he was playing at the Sam Shankland Open in Milpitas, California, when he emerged from the bathroom, collapsed, and tragically died.  

Allegations published in the Daily Mirror claim that Tate and his brother, Tristan, were making millions from webcam sites that target lonely men who fall for online models and their ‘fake sob stories’. The pair have described the allegations as ‘a total scam’.

The Tates’ murky world was revealed further in April, when their Romanian mansion was raided by local authorities after a tip off from the US Embassy that a 21-year-old American woman was being held there against her will. 

The case is ongoing. The brothers were released at the time and deny all wrongdoing. 

By this point his Twitter account had already been suspended when tweets containing homophobic and racial slurs were found on his profile.

At the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017, Tate told his followers that rape victims should ‘bear some responsibility’, while mental health charities slammed his comments belittling depression a year later. 

His controversial views have earned him meetings and appearances among right-wing figures, most notably conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, Nigel Farage, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon and Donald Trump Jr.

Amelia Handy, policy lead at Rape Crisis England and Wales told MailOnline: ‘It is unacceptable that such a blatant display of misogyny is being given a platform.

‘These videos are a clear example of rape culture, where rape and sexual violence are minimised and survivors are blamed for crimes committed against them. Sexual violence does not exist in a vacuum, it is very much rooted in the sexist belief that women and girls are less valuable than men and boys. 

‘It is therefore deeply concerning that young people have access to content that teaches just this and makes sexual abuse seem normal.

‘TikTok has a responsibility to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its users: by allowing these videos on their platform they are failing to protect the millions of young people who use their app.’

Zainab Gulamali, policy and public affairs manager at Women’s Aid added: ‘Making derogatory comments and videos about abusing women is as dangerous as it is unacceptable: this normalises the misogynistic and sexist attitudes which are at the root of all violence against women and girls. 

‘We know that violence against women and girls is a spectrum, running from sexist comments and ‘banter’, right through to horrifically violent crimes and murder.

‘Sexist actions and language that reinforce women’s inequality have been tolerated for too long. It is vital that we all challenge these deep-rooted misogynistic attitudes, which normalise women being emotionally abused, belittled, and controlled, as well as physically harmed.’

Despite TikTok’s community guidelines banning misogynistic content and shell accounts, Tate’s videos have been viewed more than 11.6billion times.

An investigation by the Observer found Tate’s followers were actively encouraged to spread his most controversial videos far and wide across social media. 

Their attempts have seemingly worked, with Tate’s online following booming. Moreover, there are now over 127,000 people who are understood to have signed up to his non-accredited $39-a-month Hustler’s University.

But leading domestic abuse charities have warned the TikTok content spread by Tate’s followers online is ‘extremely misogynistic’ and could have concerning long-term effects on a young audience. 

A spokesman from domestic abuse charity White Ribbon told MailOnline that harmful behaviour and attitudes towards women and girls can ‘normalise violence’. 

‘Men and boys regularly watching and listening to negative presentations of masculinity may begin to adopt these attitudes and behaviours, believing that they are acting as the ‘ideal man’. 

‘This relates to being seen as tough, aggressive and suppressing emotion. These traits feed into gender norms, what ‘being a man’ and ‘being a woman’ is. Gender inequality is a direct result of traditional and negative stereotypes which confine women’s and men’s roles in society.

‘Not only does this create a lot of pressure on men and boys, often affecting their mental health and self-image, it also creates dangerous cultures and environments for women and girls to exist in. 

‘Sexist and derogatory comments exist on the same spectrum as controlling behaviour and physical and sexual violence, which creates environments where men go on to murder women.’

A TikTok spokesman told DailyMail.com: ‘Misogyny and other hateful ideologies and behaviours are not tolerated on TikTok, and we are working to review this content and take action against violations of our guidelines. 

‘We continually look to strengthen our policies and enforcement strategies, including adding more safeguards to our recommendation system, as part of our work to keep TikTok a safe and inclusive space for our community.’

TikTok trend teaching kids how to hotwire brand new cars using just a USB cable

Meanwhile children on TikTok are also being exposed to a troubling new trend where young thugs teach them how to hotwire brand new cars using just a USB cable.

The thefts generally involve Kia’s newer than 2011 and Hyundai’s newer than 2015. The cars typically do not have immobilizers and can be accessed through backdoors without setting off alarms.

How-to videos spread on social media showing usually teenagers stealing KIAs and Hyundais and crashing or dumping them before they are arrested.

Law enforcement agencies across the country have raised concerns about the trend, which began on TikTok in 2021 courtesy of a Milwaukee based group known as the ‘Kia Boyz.’

Last week footage reportedly linked to the trend of four teenagers in Minnesota crashing a stolen Kia against the median of an interstate before frantically running across traffic in an attempt to avoid arrest.

This most recent concerning incident occurred in St Paul, Minnesota, on Saturday afternoon along Interstate 35E Northbound.

According to Fox 9, the driver was trying to evade police tire deflation device when he began running up against the wall.

The video shows the car smoking and the four teens, a 14-year-old boy, and three girls ages 15-17, running across the busy highway. All four were eventually arrested by state troopers. 

One girl is seen running into a black SUV as the group heads towards the off ramp. Two of the girls suffered injuries and were treated in a local hospital. 

St Paul Police Public Information Officer Mike Ernster said at 5.30pm on August 6, cops got a call from a Minneapolis rental firm which said a 2021 Kia Forte had been stolen. The GPS indicated the car was in St Paul. 

A state police helicopter was deployed and quickly located the car in a residential area in the city. Police cruisers went to the area and converged on the Kia.

Ernster said at that point, the teen driver sped away through the area and eventually on to the highway. The state police helicopter remained in pursuit.

The crash in the video occurred around 15 minutes after the car was first located. This style of theft is thought to have originated in Wisconsin beginning in 2021.

In June, Fox 9 reported across the Twin Cities there was an uptick in Kia and Hyundai thefts. At the time a woman who had just bought a Kia Sol only to see it stolen and written off just outside of her home in Minneapolis told the station that had she known how easy it was to steal the cars, she would have bought something different.

A ‘Kia Boyz’ style theft was linked to the death of a 70-year-old woman named Phoua Hang who was killed when the car she was traveling was slammed into by a stolen Kia, reports TwinCities.com.

At the time of writing there have been no arrests in relation to Hang’s death. The issue is a particularly bad in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where ‘Kia Boyz’ related thefts account for two thirds of the city’s stolen cars.

It has gotten so bad in Milwaukee that authorities have advised Kia and Hyundai owners to buy steering wheel locks or to invest in an a more advanced security systems.

In May, WISN reported that one member of the ‘Kia Boyz’, 19-year-old Antonio Carter was accused of pointing a ‘long gun’ at a police officer as he attempted to arrest him.

Carter was also accused of driving the stolen red Kia at 90 miles per hour in the ‘wrong lanes of travel’ in city. At the time of his arrest, Carter was out on bail in two open felony cases.

The raft of thefts was so rampant towards the end of 2021 that the Milwaukee’s city council, the Milwaukee City Attorney openly said that their office was looking into filing a lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia over how apparently easy it was to steal their cars.

KTVZ quoted a city alderman saying during a council meeting that 50 percent of the thieves are under the age of 16 and that the crimes rarely resulted in prosecutions.

In St Louis, there has been a 254 percent increase in Kia thefts and a 222 percent increase in Hyundai thefts in 2022, Auto News reports.

Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom told Michigan Live in July: ‘Most of the offenders are juveniles, so you throw the curveball in there of, ‘Yes, we can arrest them,’ but what sort of accountability are the kids facing and what sort of services are available to make sure that this isn’t a catch-and-release and they’re back out in the morning and doing it again.’

The Auto News article reports that there has been a significant increase in the Korean cars in other cities such as Cincinnati, Memphis and Grand Rapids.

The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio reported in July that Hyundai and Kia thefts accounts for four of 10 vehicles stolen in 2022. By comparison, in 2021 Hyundai and Kia’s made up just 10 percent of car thefts, according to the Dispatch. 

On July 25, two 14-year-olds were killed in the city when they crashed their stolen Hyundai, reports ABC 6. Kia said in a press release as of 2022, all of new cars will come equipped with an immobilizer in order to prevent thefts.

In a statement on the thefts Kia said: ‘Kia America is aware of the rise in vehicle thefts of a subset of trim levels. All 2022 models and trims have an immobilizer applied either at the beginning of the year or as a running change. 

‘All Kia vehicles for sale in the U.S. meet or exceed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Kia customers with questions regarding their Kia vehicle should contact the Consumer Assistance center directly at 1-800-333-4542.’ 

While Hyundai said: ”Hyundai Motor America is concerned with the rise in local auto thefts. The safety and well-being of our customers and the community is and will remain our top priority. 

‘These vehicles meet or exceed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and engine immobilizers are standard equipment on all new Hyundai vehicles.’

Blackout challenge that sees kids strangle themselves until they pass out

Another shocking challenge rife on TikTok is the blackout challenge which sees youngsters throttle themselves until they pass out in sick videos shared online.

The toxic challenge encourages young social media users to asphyxiate themselves, pass out and regain consciousness on camera.

The family of one 10-year-old girl who choked herself to death as part of the challenge is suing the video platform for negligence and having a ‘defective design.’

Nylah Anderson of Philadelphia was found unconscious in her mom’s bedroom closet on December 7. She hanged herself from a purse strap after seeing videos related to the ‘blackout challenge’, according to a lawsuit.

Nylah’s mother Tawainna says the company is to blame for her death because the content ‘was thrust in front of’ her.

‘I cannot stop replaying this day in my head,’ Tawainna said at a press conference earlier this year. ‘The unbreakable bond in our family is now shattered and void.’

Last year, a 12-year-old boy died after using a shoelace to choke himself for the same challenge, his family says.

Nylah was an ‘active, happy, healthy, and incredibly intelligent child’ who spoke three languages, according to the lawsuit.

She is survived by her mother and her two brothers, Nakye Anderson and Kevin Freeman Lamarr Neal III. The 10-year-old girl tried the ‘blackout challenge’ in her mom’s closet while her mom was downstairs.

A forensic analysis of her phone showed that the app was in use at the time, according to her mom’s attorneys.

‘Nylah endured hellacious suffering as she struggled and fought for breath and slowly asphyxiated until near the point of death,’ the lawsuit states.

Tawainna found her daughter and tried multiple rounds of CPR on her until paramedics arrived. Nylah spent five days in the pediatric ICU and died on December 12.

Her family’s lawsuit, which asks for unspecified damages, holds TikTok accountable for designing an app that promotes dangerous challenges to children.

In a statement before the lawsuit was filed, the firm said: ‘This disturbing ‘challenge,’ which people seem to learn about from sources other than TikTok long predates our platform, and has never been a TikTok trend.

‘We remain vigilant in our commitment to user safety and would immediately remove related content if found.’ But Nylah’s mother says the company intentionally designs its app to keep its young users’ attention at any costs.

The ‘algorithm determined that the deadly blackout challenge was well-tailored and likely to be of interest to 10-year-old Nylah Anderson and she died as a result,’ the lawsuit states.

It cites a number of other dangerous challenges, including the ‘Orbeez challenge,’ which encourages viewers to shoot the plastic pellets at people.

Also named is the ‘Benadryl challenge,’ in which people drink large amounts of the cough medicine until they hallucinate.

Another one is the ‘Nyquil Chicken Challenge,’ which ‘involves soaking chicken breast in cough medicine like Nyquil and cooking it, boiling off the water and alcohol in it and leaving the chicken saturated with a highly concentrated amount of drugs in the meat,’ according to court documents.

Tawainna Anderson’s product liability and negligence lawsuit ‘seeks to hold TikTok responsible for their role as designers, programers manufacturers sellers and distributors of their dangerously defective social media products and for their own independent acts of negligence.’

Nylah’s mom said she’s taking a stand for children. ‘I accepted that my daughter voice is gone forever, so I’m going to speak for her, and the message here today is something has to change.

‘Something has to stop because I wouldn’t want any other parent to go through what I’m going through ever since December 7.’

Last April, a 12-year-old Colorado boy died after his parents say he used a shoelace to choke himself until he lost consciousness for the same challenge.

The family of Joshua Haileyesus shared an update on a GoFundMe page that confirmed his passing.

‘After fighting the good fight on life support for 19 days, Joshua has gone off to be with the Lord,’ the family wrote.  ‘Your prayers and your love have comforted us and we are grateful for your support.’

Joshua was found passed out in the bathroom of his home by his twin brother on March 22, 2021. His brother tried to resuscitate him until neighbors and the ambulance arrived, according to the family. 

His family believes he may have been using the shoelace to take part in the Blackout Challenge, which has been circulating on TikTok over the last year. Joshua’s death is mentioned in the latest lawsuit.