TikTok: Scott Morrison calls TikTok suicide video ’horrifying’
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has put Chinese-owned TikTok on notice for its failure to stop a graphic suicide video circulating on its social media platform, potentially exposing millions of young people to the distressing footage.
NSW
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Social media companies need to be “accountable” and “responsible” for ensuring the content they host online doesn’t harm Australians, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned
It follows his condemnation yesterday of “horrifying” content circulating on the Chinese-owned video platform, potentially exposing millions of young people to footage of a 33-year-old US man taking his own life.
The controversial app, which is hugely popular among Australian children and young teens, has repeatedly failed to take down the suicide footage as it reappeared among other videos.
A spokeswoman for TikTok told The Daily Telegraph the social media platform’s “systems” and “moderation teams” had been detecting and removing the clips of the suicide for violating content policies.
“We are banning accounts that repeatedly try to upload clips, and we appreciate our community members who’ve reported content and warned others against watching, engaging, or sharing such videos on any platform out of respect for the person and their family,” she said.
Today, Mr Morrison took aim at the social media platform in a lengthy video outlining the benefits and dangers of the platform after The Daily Telegraph revealed he put the social media company on notice for its failure to stop the graphic suicide video circulating.
“Social media has become, like it or not, part of our modern life,” he said.
“It has its advantages. It connects people in a way that we haven’t ever been connected in history.
“It gives us a bit of a laugh. People doing silly dances, putting it up online. Sometimes they’re taking the mickey out of me. That’s all fine, it’s a lot of fun.
“But there’s a serious concern and a serious side of what happens with social media. And we saw that with that disgraceful video that was uploaded onto TikTok.”
Mr Morrison said those who run such organisations “have a responsibility to those who are watching it, particularly when it comes to children”.
“And that’s why we have taken strong action through the eSafety Commissioner to make sure that these sorts of things don’t happen.
“There’s not a special set of rules, you don’t get to misbehave and be horrible to people and do things in that (online) world that you’d never put up with in the real world.”
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Mr Morrison, whose own daughters are aged 11 and 13, said “real world” laws and standards of behaviour “must also apply online”.
“No child should be exposed to horrifying content like this and platforms like TikTok need to put in more resources to detect and tear down this sort of harmful content,” he said. “That is their responsibility.”
He said the government’s eSafety Commissioner was “engaging closely” with TikTok to “demand the video is removed”.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian condemned the video: “This is a horrifying and stark example of why we need to do everything we can to protect children and families from the dangers of social media.”
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet agreed, saying “social media companies need to have a social compact with the community to ensure our kids are safe and not exposed to harmful material like this.”
Video of the US man taking his life was livestreamed on Facebook on August 31, before it spread to TikTok, often hidden at the end of unrelated clips, and then appeared on Instagram and Twitter.
Schools across the country yesterday sent warnings to parents advising them to keep children away from TikTok for at least the next two days.
Loreto Normanhurst’s director of pastoral care Sally Munro told parents to keep their child offline and “heavily supervise” all social media interactions until the distressing content was removed. She said the school was receiving reports clips of puppies and kittens were being used to “lure kids into seeing the (suicide) video”.
Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant warned the footage could harm young and vulnerable people who viewed it, and TikTok and other social media needed to work faster to delete it.
For help contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or young people can call the Kids Helpline for support on 1800 55 1800.