Call for Rape via TikTok

G

George1959

Senior Member
In general I'm not a fan of censorship, BUT there are exceptions, for instance this one.

Today in the German newspaper "Bild":
It sounds unbelievable, but it is real and dangerous: Berlin's Senator for Education is warning of a “rape day” at the capital's schools this Wednesday!

The letter from Tuesday states: “In April 2021, a TikTok video was used for the first time to call for ‘National Rape Day’. This video, which has since been deleted, encouraged people to touch and harass young women and girls without their consent on April 24. In addition, it was and is suggested that there is impunity for these acts on this day and that there are no consequences to fear.
(translated with Deepl.com)
Berlin: Senatorin warnt vor „Vergewaltigungs-Tag“ an Schulen
 

Fact check: Viral TikTok trends surrounding warning of sexual assault on April 24 are unsubstantiated​

The claim: A group of men on TikTok plan to commit sexual assault on April 24 for "National Rape Day"​

As communities observe Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, a disturbing trend is going viral on TikTok — warnings about “National Rape Day.”

The predominant narrative is that a group of six men recently created a TikTok video in which they encouraged others to commit sexual assaults on April 24.

Millions of social media users have viewed or shared reactions to the perceived threat on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. However, neither USA TODAY nor TikTok could find any evidence of the threat users were responding to.

“If anyone got plans on April 24th DONT GO OUT!!!! there are men planning a national RAPE DAY STAY INSIDE!!!!” reads an image shared on Facebook.

Another widely shared image says the threat comes from “six men on TikTok” who “claimed that on April 24, 2021, it’s legal to sexually assault anybody — and they even provided tips on how to do so.” This image is a screenshot of an April 17 article from the online publication Distractify.

This has not stopped social media users from promoting their fears to their followers. Most of the discussion took place on TikTok, where #april24 had more than 31.1 million views and more than a thousand videos at the time of publication. The vast majority of those videos contained safety warnings and condemnations of the day.

Some posts advised women to stay home, travel in groups and carry weapons while others made veiled threats to those who might commit assaults.

One viral video likened the day to the movie “The Purge.”

Several law enforcement officers participated in the trend by posting videos that threatened potential assailants with arrests.

According to CrowdTangle, there have more than 1,000 Facebook posts and nearly 50 Instagram posts about “National Rape Day” in the week before this fact check published.

USA TODAY reached out to several accounts that posted about the purported threat.

No evidence of the original threat
TikTok confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY that it has not found the purported original video on its platform.

"Keeping our community safe is our priority, and we do not tolerate content that promotes or glorifies non-consensual sexual acts including rape and sexual assault,” a TikTok spokesperson wrote in an email. “While we have not found evidence on our platform of any videos related to this subject, our safety team is remaining vigilant and we will remove content that violates our policies."

USA TODAY analyzed more than 100 videos under TikTok's #april24 and found no record of the purported original, threatening video. Some creators claim to have seen the video but did not share a link, stitch or duet it.

USA TODAY reached out to several creators who posted about the original video. None responded to the requests for comment.

Several news outlets, including Distractify, Newsweek and Tech Times, have reported about the online trend and referenced the “six men” that made the initial threat. The articles did not provide any evidence that the journalists had viewed the video.

On April 19, Newsweek updated its reporting to include a statement from TikTok and explain that there is no evidence of the initial threat.

Our rating: False​

We rate the claim that a group of men on TikTok is planning to sexually assault women and children on April 24 in observance of "National Rape Day" FALSE, because it is not supporting by our research. Despite countless social media posts responding to the alleged threat, neither USA TODAY nor TikTok has found any evidence of the video making the original threat as claimed.

Our fact check sources:​

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-HOPE and online.rainn.org).

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
 
Paco Dennis said:

Fact check: Viral TikTok trends surrounding warning of sexual assault on April 24 are unsubstantiated​

The claim: A group of men on TikTok plan to commit sexual assault on April 24 for "National Rape Day"​

As communities observe Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, a disturbing trend is going viral on TikTok — warnings about “National Rape Day.”

The predominant narrative is that a group of six men recently created a TikTok video in which they encouraged others to commit sexual assaults on April 24.

Millions of social media users have viewed or shared reactions to the perceived threat on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. However, neither USA TODAY nor TikTok could find any evidence of the threat users were responding to.

“If anyone got plans on April 24th DONT GO OUT!!!! there are men planning a national RAPE DAY STAY INSIDE!!!!” reads an image shared on Facebook.

Another widely shared image says the threat comes from “six men on TikTok” who “claimed that on April 24, 2021, it’s legal to sexually assault anybody — and they even provided tips on how to do so.” This image is a screenshot of an April 17 article from the online publication Distractify.

This has not stopped social media users from promoting their fears to their followers. Most of the discussion took place on TikTok, where #april24 had more than 31.1 million views and more than a thousand videos at the time of publication. The vast majority of those videos contained safety warnings and condemnations of the day.

Some posts advised women to stay home, travel in groups and carry weapons while others made veiled threats to those who might commit assaults.

One viral video likened the day to the movie “The Purge.”

Several law enforcement officers participated in the trend by posting videos that threatened potential assailants with arrests.

According to CrowdTangle, there have more than 1,000 Facebook posts and nearly 50 Instagram posts about “National Rape Day” in the week before this fact check published.

USA TODAY reached out to several accounts that posted about the purported threat.

No evidence of the original threat
TikTok confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY that it has not found the purported original video on its platform.

"Keeping our community safe is our priority, and we do not tolerate content that promotes or glorifies non-consensual sexual acts including rape and sexual assault,” a TikTok spokesperson wrote in an email. “While we have not found evidence on our platform of any videos related to this subject, our safety team is remaining vigilant and we will remove content that violates our policies."

USA TODAY analyzed more than 100 videos under TikTok's #april24 and found no record of the purported original, threatening video. Some creators claim to have seen the video but did not share a link, stitch or duet it.

USA TODAY reached out to several creators who posted about the original video. None responded to the requests for comment.

Several news outlets, including Distractify, Newsweek and Tech Times, have reported about the online trend and referenced the “six men” that made the initial threat. The articles did not provide any evidence that the journalists had viewed the video.

On April 19, Newsweek updated its reporting to include a statement from TikTok and explain that there is no evidence of the initial threat.

Our rating: False​

We rate the claim that a group of men on TikTok is planning to sexually assault women and children on April 24 in observance of "National Rape Day" FALSE, because it is not supporting by our research. Despite countless social media posts responding to the alleged threat, neither USA TODAY nor TikTok has found any evidence of the video making the original threat as claimed.

Our fact check sources:​

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-HOPE and online.rainn.org).

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
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Now this is very interesting. Nevertheless the German "Bild", the equivalent to the British "Sun", is publishing it today. But why? To keep schoolgirls in fear?
 
George1959 said:
Now this is very interesting. Nevertheless the German "Bild", the equivalent to the British "Sun", is publishing it today. But why? To keep schoolgirls in fear?
Click to expand...
It's difficult to say for certain why Bild would choose to publish this unsubstantiated claim. Sensationalist headlines and fear-mongering can drive clicks, even if the information is not accurate. "Clickbait," , a profitable strategy for media outlets.

In this case, the claim may have been published to generate fear and concern among readers, particularly schoolgirls and their parents. It's important to approach news articles with a critical eye and verify information from multiple sources before accepting it as fact, especially when it comes to claims that could cause harm or distress.
 
George1959 said:
Now this is very interesting. Nevertheless the German "Bild", the equivalent to the British "Sun", is publishing it today. But why? To keep schoolgirls in fear?
Click to expand...
I think it's so people will be clicking on "Bild". All those clicks add up to cash.
And I also think it's time to recognize that if you have a platform , where everybody can post whatever they want; some are going to screw around, and post items that are inflammatory and utterly untrue. That doesn't mean you ban the platform. It's the jackasses, who use it, not the platform. If you get an inflammatory piece of mail in your mailbox, does that mean you should ban the postal system? I think it's just politically expedient to blame Tik Tok- they're the evil empire, etc. It's an easy target. And the uproar about Tik Tok is probably fueled by questionable by internet media sources.
 
George1959 said:
It even was Berlin's Senator for Education who came up with this warning. This is strange.
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See post #4.

Fact-Check said "We rate the claim that a group of men on TikTok is planning to sexually assault women and children on April 24 in observance of 'National Rape Day' FALSE, because it is not supported by our research. Despite countless social media posts responding to the alleged threat, neither USA TODAY nor TikTok has found any evidence of the video making the original threat as claimed."

edit: Oh....you did see it. Sorry.
 
As they say shoot the message not the messenger.

Did this tiktok poster have alot of followers or made a statement someone just happened to find.
 
Meta AI:

Other social media platforms have also faced similar issues with harmful challenges and content. Here are a few examples: Do they all need to go?

YouTube: The "Fire Challenge" and "Bird Box Challenge" are two examples of dangerous challenges that spread on the platform.
Facebook: The "Punch 4 Punch" challenge and other violent challenges have been reported on the platform.
Instagram: The "Renegade Challenge" and other harmful challenges have been associated with injuries and dangerous behavior.
Snapchat: The "Snapchat Speed Filter" has been linked to reckless driving and accidents.
Twitter: The platform has faced issues with online harassment, bullying, and hate speech.

Social media platforms face the challenge of balancing free expression with user safety and well-being. It's essential for platforms to continue improving moderation, reporting tools, and community guidelines to prevent the spread of harmful content.
 
Tik Tok is bad because it uses algorithms that feed content to unsuspecting users. I've seen stories about young girls who end up viewing videos that promote things like anorexia or even how to commit suicide and come close to losing their lives. The following is from Amnesty.Org.

"The algorithm takes views of mental health content to signify an interest in the topic that it can respond to by flooding a user's feed with similar videos that could, according to Amnesty International's research, romanticize self-harm and depressive thinking, aggravating psychological vulnerabilities."

I know there are silly videos and videos that are actually informational but I'll stick with Youtube. It is much more heavily policed.
 
seadoug said:
Tik Tok is bad because it uses algorithms that feed content to unsuspecting users. I've seen stories about young girls who end up viewing videos that promote things like anorexia or even how to commit suicide and come close to losing their lives.
Click to expand...

This is true of every single Social Media platform. Youtube is no better. Their entire model is based on eyeballs and clicks. They achieve this by constantly pushing content at you. They are coded using gaming methodologies. For example, Tik Tok is designed to give you serotonin hits. This isn't coincidental to their development model, it's baked in to the design.

Nathan said:
Fear-Uncertanty-Doubt(FUD) spreads more quickly than the TRUTH, on the Internet.
Click to expand...

The internet doesn't care about truth or lies, it's all data, bits to be sent back and forth. It's the human developers who bake it in. I think you're correct in that bad news, perceived threats, and danger triggers processes in our brain that give us a hyper-awareness. However, this has no correlation to the information being true or false, it's just an experience.

There is no such thing as neutrality in Social Media either. What gets the clicks gets the attention. Add on top of that the fact that a whole lot of the populace are dumb as rocks, never question anything, and believe everything - and you've got quite the stew.

Game Theory has been with us for some time, and represents a start for understanding what's going on. This is about to get far more sophisticated with the advent of advanced AI.

Game Theory
 
Nathan said:
@VaughanJB , yes well said, every last aspect of our lives are being heavily gamed by the entities that seek to control our lives or profit by changing our beliefs and behavior.
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Add in, making us feel special, or more in the know than others. Or the belief that so called "alternative media" is any different from so called "mainstream media". The whole, "they don't want you to know" movement. :D

We're all being gamed.
 
Why isn't our administration banning it?? Are they getting paid under the table to keep it?
I've never visited there but I hear it is manipulating our children's minds negatively.
 
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