Almost died because of... imitating videos on the internet
Launched only 7 years ago, TikTok is already operating in more than 150 markets. According to data on Statista, if in 2017, this social network only had about 65 million users, this number increased to more than one billion accounts by January 2022. TikTok is currently one of the most used social networks worldwide .
Vietnam ranks 6th out of 10 countries with the most TikTok users in the world (about 50 million users). According to DataReportal, by February 2023, Vietnam had about 77.93 million Internet users. Thus, up to 64% of Internet users in Vietnam are using TikTok.
We do not deny the certain benefits that this social network brings. However, this is also a place where toxic and negative information is spread. Just by surfing TikTok for a short time, we can easily encounter offensive and even toxic trends such as: Sex jokes; dancing to show off the body; advertising 18+ movies, aphrodisiacs; pretending to be addicted to drugs; regional discrimination, spreading superstition... On TikTok, there are more and more "trends" that upset the public.
The trend of going to the market with 5,000 VND makes the public uncomfortable.
Some of the offensive trends of TikTok in Vietnam include in mid-2022, a woman in Ho Chi Minh City showed off a clip of herself going to the market for only 20,000 VND. Immediately after that, other TikTokers competed to make clips of themselves going to the market for 5,000 VND.
How much to spend is inherently a matter of personal choice, but a series of TikTokers flocked to the market and offered “unbelievably low” prices, demanding service from sellers, which made many people uncomfortable. In order to get their own clips to attract views, these TikTokers ignored the code of conduct, significantly affecting the work of others.
After the above pointless but infuriating trend, Vietnamese TikToker content creators have a new “trend” at the airport. First, famous TikToker Le Bong pulled the window shade on the plane and placed her phone on it to record the view of the clouds during the flight. This TikToker’s clip has attracted more than 2 million views.
After this clip went viral on TikTok, a series of other content creators also rushed to “follow this trend”. Hundreds of people imitated Le Bong. This caused the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to speak up and warn that this is an act that affects flight safety.
The trend of "hunting clouds on planes" violates flight safety.
Right after the “cloud hunting on the plane” trend, in June 2022, TikTok had a clip of a girl dancing on the runway with a moving plane in the background. This action was quickly condemned for endangering herself and hundreds of passengers sitting on the plane behind her.
The girl dancing on the runway was criticized.
In July 2022, another TikToker continued to cause outrage when she showed off a scene of herself sitting carefree on a luggage conveyor belt at the airport. Not to mention the possibility of being convicted of intentionally causing trouble at the airport, this action of the girl was considered offensive and recklessly attracting views.
In November of the same year, TikToker Nơ Ô Nô used insulting and disparaging words and actions towards a poor old man in a clip under the guise of doing charity work. This incident caused a stir in public opinion. The Department of Information and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City fined him 7.5 million VND for providing and sharing information that promotes and is not in accordance with the nation's traditions and customs. Nơ Ô Nô's TikTok account was also locked.
However, that cannot erase the consequences it leaves on social network users. A part of the audience, notably young audiences and children, really love the insulting statements of No O No and use them in daily life.
At the end of August 2022, TikToker Hoang Minh made many people angry when he posted a clip saying that people in the Central region were "stingy, miserly" and "have no spirit of contributing to society". The Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention, Lam Dong Provincial Police decided to administratively fine Hoang Minh 10 million VND. However, similar to the case of No O No, Hoang Minh was fined but many people in the Central region were hurt, and regional differences were exploited in a negative way.
Many trends on TikTok even put participants in danger by creating deadly challenges. For example, the "Blackout Challenge" encourages players to strangle themselves with household items until they lose consciousness and then film the entire process and share it on social media. Worldwide, this challenge has killed at least 20 children. And surely, there will be users in Vietnam who know about this challenge.
In June 2021, many drivers traveling on the Hanoi - Lao Cai highway through Tam Duong district were stoned by some people, causing damage to their vehicles and serious danger to their lives. When the police investigated, everyone was shocked to learn that the perpetrators were 4 middle school students. These students were completely unaware of the danger of their actions and were simply following the videos that were circulating on TikTok at that time.
The innocent testimony of the children surprised many people: “When I watched those videos, I felt very happy and excited, so I invited my close friends to go to the highway to throw rocks. When they heard the invitation, they were also very excited. The whole group chose pebbles, rocks, and hard bricks to hide on the roadside and in bushes, waiting for vehicles to pass by, then shouting loudly to throw them together.”
A 10-year-old boy in Ho Chi Minh City had to be hospitalized with a twisted neck and head tilted to one side just because he imitated a dangerous game on social media.
Four children threw rocks at vehicles moving on the highway just because they followed videos on social media.
TikTok culture poisons young people
Before blossoming on TikTok, toxic trends also appeared on Youtube and Facebook. However, unlike its two predecessors, TikTok provides users with a freer and simpler viewing mode. Users do not need to choose or search for content to watch. Just turn on the application, a series of videos with eye-catching sounds and images will appear. If users do not like the content being played, just a light swipe on the screen, other videos will immediately appear to replace it.
Using algorithms, TikTok can automatically measure users' interests. And from there, a series of videos with similar content will pour in to serve the "gods", causing them to gradually lose the habit of thinking, analyzing, and filtering information. Toxic information will seep into them unconsciously.
In a conversation with VTC News reporter, Associate Professor Dr. Bui Hoai Son - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education commented: We are now witnessing a culture that can be called Tik Tok culture. There, some TikTok channel owners use any means to release sensational, even offensive content to attract views and likes. Meanwhile, the audience, mostly young people, like what is new, attractive, even weird, offensive, contrary to good customs and traditions, and have little ability to resist bad, negative information. This is what worries many people.
Mr. Le Quang Tu Do - Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information affirmed that TikTok's recent violations have caused many consequences, creating a favorable environment for fake news to spread, causing economic damage and social instability, encouraging young people to imitate and follow bad and offensive trends, distorting the perception and lifestyle of young people, corrupting the cultural values of the nation; encouraging and facilitating illegal business activities; Copyright infringement content is rampant.
Faced with the above situation, the Ministry of Information and Communications will coordinate with relevant agencies to conduct a comprehensive inspection and examination of TikTok in Vietnam and strictly handle violations. The public hopes that with this move from the management agency, the "garbage" on TikTok and, by extension, on social platforms will be cleaned up.
An Nguyen
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