“Rape Day”
Tiktok: No evidence of platform “trend”
Tiktok says that to ensure the safety of the community, it is removing content that claims April 24th is National Rape Day as it is misinformation. photo
© Robert Michael/dpa
Online rumors can cause confusion. A case involving Berlin schools is the latest example. Tiktok defends itself against the senator’s claim that there is a certain “trend” on the platform.
On Tuesday, a letter from Berlin’s Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch (CDU) to around 800 Berlin schools became public knowledge, in which she warned against fake news circulating on the subject of sexual harassment of girls and young people. The letter spoke of a “disturbing Tiktok trend”.
When asked on Wednesday, the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family said it had previously been made aware by school supervisors and schools that there were corresponding student chats. More specifically, according to the Senate administration, it is about an alleged “National Rape Day” on April 24th. If you randomly click through social networks, you can see warnings that conveyed the rumor.
Expert: Tiktok needs to do more – immediately
Tiktok said on Thursday that to ensure the safety of the community, it was removing content that claimed April 24 was National Rape Day because it was misinformation. Counter-speech will only be permitted if it portrays or exposes April 24th or “National Rape Day” as a hoax.
CDU politician Günther-Wünsch also announced on Wednesday: “The safety and well-being of our children and young people is our top priority. Yesterday we therefore sent a letter to schools to alert schools to the potential dangers of certain trends on social media. platforms to raise awareness.” The Senate administration said on Wednesday that it had entered into a constructive exchange with the Tiktok platform.
The director of the Rhineland-Palatinate media authority and chairman of the Commission for Youth Media Protection (KJM), Marc Jan Eumann, said on Wednesday when asked: “From the perspective of supervision of child and youth media protection on the Internet, Tiktok has to do more – not at some point, but immediately.”