Lets talk Tik Tok. For those of you that don’t know, Tik Tok is an app where people share short videos. Much like Vine did, Tik Tok instantly became a popular form of social media across the world especially amongst young people.

The app itself isn’t what I want to talk about though. This post is me diving into some recent news and backlash that the creators of the app are getting. If you haven’t heard, Tik Tok has recently admitted to censoring certain users videos and changing their algorithms for some individuals who they believed could be targets for bullying and/or harassment based on their physical or mental state. According to NetzPolitik.org, individuals who were chosen to be at risk included those with “facial disfigurements, Autism, Down Syndrome, and people with facial problems”. For individuals they believed fell into one of the above categories, the censorship they were subjected to might have included their videos not showing up on the “for you” public page and for others it meant that their videos were completely invisible to those that lived outside of the country in which they lived.

Tik Tok was trying to do something good, in a world filled with terrible influences and actions, the creators of the app were trying to protect their users. From what I’ve read, and from what has been said, there was no bad intentions. The creators of Tik Tok made these steps to protect their users, to protect the people they considered to be vulnerable. Despite all of this, what they did was still wrong.

Unlike a lot of the articles out there, I’m not going to use this post to attack the creators though. I’m not going to be a part of the problem, bullying the individuals who believed they were doing the right thing. Instead, I’m going to offer some suggestions and words of advice to the creators and anyone else interested.

What really stands out to me from this whole ordeal is the fact that no one has asked the people impacted. Tik Tok never talked to the people they were going to be censoring, asking them if they believed this was the right move. None of the articles specifically reached out and asked those impacted how they feel about the news. No one has asked… and whats sad is this isn’t a one off. This happens ALL the time.

As a society we get so caught up in “protecting” those we believe are “vulnerable” that we just jump right in without even thinking. We don’t take the time to stop and say “maybe I should ask them if they need anything”. Instead we assume, we assume we know what is best for individuals whose shoes we have never walked in. We assume that we know what they want and what they need.

If you’ve never had the opportunity to interact with an individual with Autism or Down Syndrome let me tell you something. They have a voice. They have a mind of their own. They have their own personalities. They are people. They can tell you what they want, what they need, what they believe is right and what they believe is wrong. Even if they don’t use words they can still communicate through body language, facial expressions, sounds, hand gestures and signs.

We need to stop assuming that because a person has a specific attribute or diagnosis that they cannot speak for themselves, that they cannot defend themselves, and that they cannot decide what they really want/need. We need to stop thinking about what we think is best and instead starting asking the people who really know what is best.

Tik Tok has since released a statement explaining that this solution was only temporary as they tried to battle an increase of bullying occurring on their app. What’s difficult for me to process is why was the easy solution to hush the victims, rather than the bullies? Why would we not apply consequences to those doing the bullying, suspending or even terminating their profiles within the app? Unfortunately Tik Tok isn’t the first site to implement a policy like this and they probably won’t be the last. The only way this will stop is if we start making changes to the way we act and what we say in regards to individuals who society classifies as “different”.

So what can be done moving forward? Here’s some ideas.

• Include individuals who will be impacted by whatever you’re working on, whether they are individuals with disabilities, those in the LGTBQ+ community, domestic abuse victims and/or literally anyone else. If they are going to be impacted, they have the right to be involved.
• Ask questions, but remember to be both polite and respectful
• Don’t focus on the stereotypes
• Be an advocate, but also an ally. Just like there are times where its important to advocate for others, remember there is also times where we need to focus on being an ally.
• Listen & watch, communication comes in a lot of different forms
• Educate yourself whenever you get the chance

Tik Tok isn’t the first app to make a mistake like this, and it certainly won’t be the last. There are steps we can make to help ensure they happen less often though, and we all have the potential to make better choices when it comes to finding the right solutions.

We need to use this situation as a lesson to learn from, not an opportunity to bully and attack others.