TikTok alerts parents and users of an embedded suicide video in a film. The video showing an American man living a Facebook live stream, was posted to several social media platforms and sometimes inserted in other, unrelated images. “We know that suicide clips broadcast live on Facebook have recently been released on other websites, like TikTok.
The short form video platform says its systems automatically identify and mark clips to breach the guidelines of the group. “We delete content & ban accounts that attempt to upload clips over and over again, and we thank our community members who have recorded content and warned others not to access, interact or post such videos on a single platform out of respect to their individuals and loved ones,” said TikTok.
TikTok, extremely common for both young people and adults, indicates that new videos on their For You pages from outlets to which users do not subscribe. Kirra Pendergast, CEO Safe on Web, Australia Cyber-security company, advised parents to hold children off the site for a few days to locate and delete all images. “This content is very popular so we want to mitigate any harm,” she said on Facebook. Pendergast said the clip was disguised as a video about kittens posted on TikTok.