If there is no change, it should be banned.

TikTok has not responded to the "eaten alive" mukbang video

Mukbang (eating and filming) of fresh food on TikTok live streaming in many countries such as Korea, India, Vietnam...

Raw food mukbang videos are rampant on TikTok Vietnam

According to Giao thong Newspaper, in Vietnam, TikTok channels such as: Toc vang hoe, Food dac am, Spicy Kim... are channels that regularly make fresh food mukbang videos, attracting millions of views. According to a survey, on the TikTok channel "Toc vang hoe", out of 5 fresh food mukbang videos, up to 4 videos have the channel owner mentioning the names of beverage products of different brands such as: Pepsi, Que Viet brown rice tea, Coca-Cola...

It is worth mentioning that this eating habit has been warned by doctors about its unpredictable health consequences.

Giao thong Newspaper contacted TikTok's representative in Vietnam and the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information (PTTT&TTĐT, under the Ministry of Information and Communications ) about the controversial content mentioned above, but these units have not yet responded.

Video of eating raw beef by the owner of Com Nha TV channel

Previously, Mr. Le Quang Tu Do, Director of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, said that the Ministry will conduct a comprehensive inspection of TikTok in May. Mr. Nguyen Lam Thanh, TikTok representative in Vietnam, said that the platform will update its Community Standards on April 21 "to always ensure that TikTok is a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment for all users", in addition to investing in censorship technology.

What do sociologists say?

Sharing with Giao Thong Newspaper about this issue, sociologist - Associate Professor, Dr. Trinh Hoa Binh admitted that, besides the creativity and convenience that TikTok brings, it still has other negative aspects.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Trinh Hoa Binh

"However, this platform is increasingly showing its inadequacies in controlling bad and toxic information. Meanwhile, many people, just because they want to be famous, do not hesitate to make silly, offensive videos that go against the moral values, customs, and cultural traditions of the country.

Most of the "eat raw" mukbang videos above are created to attract interactions and create curiosity, not to glorify or create cuisine. Traditional cuisine with creativity and innovation is limitless, but must ensure cultural suitability and nutritional value.

The reason for this is also due to the audience's need to listen and watch, and many brands hire advertisers. The evidence is that they still advertise for some brands, and videos that are controversial still have millions of views. Therefore, if social media users and stores boycott and eliminate dirty content, bad and toxic videos will have a hard time surviving.

In the context that TikTok has not yet been able to come up with the most effective measures to completely resolve or minimize harmful videos, parents need to closely monitor their children's use of this application.

Meanwhile, after the management agency reminded and recommended, TikTok still did not make any changes. It is possible to propose banning this platform in Vietnam," said Mr. Trinh Hoa Binh.

How do countries respond to the mukbang trend?

In China, mukbang clips of the "eating and drinking" style have become saturated. Eating strange foods, from live insects to animals that are banned from being eaten, has become a popular way to attract views among TikTokers and Vloggers in recent years.

Faced with this reality, the country's regulatory authorities have begun to take drastic action. Typically, in September 2022, Wang Can, who had more than 560,000 followers on the video-sharing platform Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), was banned from the platform after posting a clip of himself eating a live wasp.

Wang suffered swollen lips and facial disfigurement after filming the clip, but claimed that this foolish act helped him gain 100,000 more viewers.

The video caption warns: "Danger, don't copy", but Wang also emphasizes that it is a "courageous" and "fearless" challenge. Wang's account was locked by Douyin just before the user was about to release the new clip, according to SCMP.

Photo cut from Korean raw chicken feet mukbang video

Even in its homeland of South Korea, the mukbang trend has also declined after more than 10 years of existence. The case of a series of famous Korean food channels such as Boki, Tzuyang and Mbro being accused of deceiving fans by not publicly and transparently disclosing advertising content has caused a stir in public opinion.

According to Yonhap, these channels with millions of followers received money to advertise fast food restaurants, but did not clearly show this in their eating clips.

The boycott was so big that South Korea's fair trade watchdog had to come up with a new set of rules for mukbangs in particular and content creators on online platforms in general.

The code requires advertising content to be clearly stated in writing and speech in clips to “prevent consumer harm caused by deceptive advertising.”

In February 2022, a Chinese man nearly died after imitating food bloggers' videos of eating undercooked beef and lamb on TikTok.

After eating, this man felt dizzy and vomited continuously. When he went to the doctor, he discovered that the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, also known as Toxoplasma gondii worms, was wriggling in the man's brain. If he had waited any longer, he could have paid a very high price.

Source: http://www.baogiaothong.vn/tiktok-tran-lan-mukbang-an-tuoi-nuot-song-khong-thay-doi-thi-nen-cam-d588194.html