Furiously Bri

I just want to note right here that this is strictly an opinion piece. All my content is my opinion, but I am speaking critically about something outside my personal life.

This post comes from a person who has been online a lot for the last 15 years. One main point I saw Congress complain about was that parents lost their children due to stupid and deadly challenges. Constant questions were being asked, and when the CEO of TikTok, Shou Chew, had an answer or validly did not have one, he was criticized while being interrupted because no answer was good enough to change the minds already made before he walked into that room.

First, I want to ask the question as to why we are focusing on TikTok, which is still a young and innovative app that may have some moderation issues but not holding Twitter or Facebook to the same accountability. I can’t tell you how many bots I have seen in unmoderated yard sale groups posting porn and not being removed when mass-reported. I have seen many friends and family lose their Facebook accounts to hackers, which makes it clear to me that Zuckerberg doesn’t honestly care about security; if he did, his apps would be top-notch. Did we also forget about the time someone was decapitated live on Facebook? The fact that they had to revise their guidelines over that without the contemplation that sick people would be online in the first place was bewildering. You would think that instance would also increase security measures, but it seems that’s not a priority.

Let’s talk about these TikTok challenges. One of the people hounding Shou Chew was adamant about the “point” that parents lost their children to these challenges. Why did we not hold YouTube accountable for the Cinnamon challenge if that’s the case? Children died choking on a tablespoon of cinnamon for entertainment back in 2012. This was before Musical.ly was a thing, which is what TikTok was before it came to be what it’s known as today. All that was done was a public call to the end of the cinnamon challenge, and we moved on. In regards to the parents, why are you not staying aware of the ongoing ever-growing internet and teaching your children to be mindful of the things that happen there, as well as teaching them common-sense lessons like not to play with chemicals and medicine? The NyQuil on chicken challenge mentioned during the hearing today is not a TikTok issue; that is a lack of parenting issue. To my understanding, Tiktok doesn’t have only human moderators; it seems to have some sort of system that will look at your content and flag it if inappropriate. Nobody in their right mind would think to pre-flag the NyQuil and chicken challenge because someone stupid enough to think of the idea created it randomly. A side note of something that genuinely irked me was that this same person was constantly hounding Mr. Chew about whether he was aiding “the Communist Chinese.” I heard something to this effect so many times out of that man’s mouth that it made me mad. I genuinely believe Mr. Chew’s answer made that particular man angry, so he interrupted him relentlessly.

Something I respect Mr. Chew on is that he answered that man by saying that no government will influence the policies of his app. This includes whatever agenda America would have if we got our grubby hands on it. I think it would be wise of Mr. Chew to allow the ban and to continue his work because he seemed very clear in his answers (when he was able to speak) and had pride and integrity toward his work in a healthy manner. I’d be sad to see Corporate America ruin it the way it consumed most social media today. Of course, I’m not a part of cyber security, but I know someone who is, and they’re not concerned about TikTok any more than they would be concerned about other apps. Also, if you’re worried about your apps having your personal information, you might as well throw out any modern cell phone or computer you have. Toss out that Google Home and Alexa puck. In this age of technology, you’re not safe regarding data.

I believe Congress doesn’t know what questions to ask, doesn’t care to hear the answers, and won’t prioritize the actual threats within our country, such as other social media who do sell their users’ data, the Dark Web, neo-nazis, and bills that are being passed to negate the fundamental human rights of women, the LGBTQIA+ community, and people of color. They aren’t worried about how everything we pay to live puts us either in the circumstance of living paycheck to paycheck or be put in the negative, and either way, most people can’t even begin to think of living the “American dream” and buy a house of their own.

We the People are dealing with many regressive issues and should at least get to keep the one thing that allows a laugh here and there and a form of connection with others that no other app gives.