AIBU to think TikTok should be banned in the UK too?

[User09678]

The Sureme Court has upheld a decision to ban tiktok in the US. Am I unreasonable in thinking the UK should have done the same yesterday? Always puts in mind the opium wars, I'm sure some are more than happy (justifiably so even) to let Western youth utterly rot their minds

I started this tiktok thread first! 😂

I was on it for about 4 weeks because my young teen joined it. I was losing my mind. We banned him and I deleted it. It is pure toxic poisonous shite. I'm very liberal minded but it's just the worst SMedia platform I've seen yet.

I don't want YouTube banned! This is now a good source of information for me. I don't trust the shit mainstream media feeds us.

I love it 🤣

I would probably be much more productive if it was gone though!

There are some really funny elements to it I have to admit. I was hooked on drunk people live streaming and then clearly taking drugs and raving around their living room. Although I was laughing, it is pretty bad that people are doing this and inviting loads of problems in.

This would be a more interesting thread, op, if you explained why you think it should be banned. Unless your sole reason is that it rots youths' minds? In which case surely that is down to the creators and not the platform?

No I would miss it a lot 😂
Joking aside, it isn't all bad. Theres loads of good recipe, cleaning and parenting videos that have actually given me a lot of ideas and inspiration. Fair amount of drunk people and crime too however.
YouTube shorts is a lot of the same material/videos so not sure how that's different.

Why ?
I actually think America has lost any credibility on the world stage

But if people succeed in bringing down platforms that don't set moral and ethical boundaries, that is a stronger incentive for existing platforms to create moral and ethical boundaries or risk being banned. Trying to go after every individual misogynist or racist thug or outlandish conspiracy theorist spouting nonsense as fact would take forever.

There are, and have always been, multiple ways to sink into brain rot. Tiktok is not new in this.

What TT does do, however, is connect people with common interests. My feed is mainly book recommendations, recipes and parenting support. Women are making content, that I consume, that helps them (££) and me (info) and enables them to connect where they may be lonelier without.

The creativity on it is fantastic. My dd regularly watches, saves and learns from piano tutorials, art videos/hints, she follows a GCSE Maths tiktoker and an American female astronaut.

Sure, there's the odd funny cat video or a slightly distasteful joke about (say) the millionaires on the submarine. But on the whole, for us anyways, we are fed content we actively use.

I don't recognise the description of TikTok upthread. Mine is filled with funny animals, knowledgeable animal keepers, recipes and people who have done an amazing job losing loads of weight. Ooh and cleaning/organising ideas.
There are some really interesting people on there, it learns what you interact with though so if you're looking for awful stuff that's what it will show you!
Agree that I'd be much more productive if it got banned though! 🤣

Considering a huge amount of content on the app exposes the reality of living in America ... school shootings, cost of healthcare, inequalities in employment rights etc I think the reasons for banning are not to save the rot of the youths minds.

Red Note.

There were some excellent cooks on TikTok. It was also a lot faster with breaking news than mainstream media outlets. It also was an outlet for small businesses.

If it was so dangerous why were so many US politicians and Fox News and so many others on it.

Exactly. If American cared about children they'd ban guns.

Like anything it can be absolute dross, really unpleasant. But the algorithm is self made so really tells you quite a lot about a person, if a middle aged man just sees teen girls dancing then that says an awful lot about him.

I use tik tok. My feed is predominantly history, skincare, travel. Don’t get me wrong, fact checking is required but it’s really quite interesting.

I would agree it isn’t great for attention spans, however.

I have got the best recipes from it. Learnt about people's everyday lives in America. I find it great. Wholesome and funny.

And that's putting aside the terrible corruption of much of the current Court.

I think the reason America wants it gone is because it's so exposed on there. I've seen so many people talking about issues, guns, health care, veterans left abandoned, homelessness, the state of CPS, the police force.

I think they don't like the exposure.

My algorithm had gone really dark lately though and I'm trying to get it back to normal. They're trying to push the whole Hollywood Pizza thing and I find it quite distressing.

I took it off my phone after a week. Addictive and toxic. I prefer having a life!

My kids aren't allowed it either.

I guess it's different people's liking .
I personally have munsnet and whatsapp and nothing else, no fc Instagram or tiktok.
I think myself that i know people who lose a day scrolling and then beat themselves up with no tea cooked or housework done and do the same a few days later.
People no longer talk and it's all this type thing. Not for me. Plus people in the past have run live suicides and then someone else starts that video as a cute cat and kids follow that and it links a lot of self image negativity ..so ..for me ..yup.please..ban it !

I tried it briefly and found the most boring, insane drivel shared by idiots. Kids and some adults appear to be hooked on it.

You can have both.. a life and some mindless scrolling after a hard day.

You are not a superior person to not like it.

Er, weren't the opium wars where Britain sailed gunboats up Chinese rivers and burned their cities down to force them to buy British opium from India ?

Nooo! It's far too addictive! I wasted too much of my life mindless scrolling! It really had to go!

I'm glad.

Don't think it will be banned in the UK though.