Congress of the United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
October 8, 2021 Mr. Shou Zi Chew Chief Executive Officer TikTok 5800 Bristol Parkway, Suite 100 Culver City, California 90230 Dear Mr. Chew, I write to express my deep concern over the recent viral videos and posts on TikTok that incite violence and encourage vandalism within schools. In my own community, administrators faced wreckage ranging from stolen soap dispensers to inoperable bathrooms because of the deplorable
“Devious Licks” challenge.
I urge TikTok to not only publicly address these inexcusable trends, but to take immediate action to moderate deplorable content and remove the troubling videos that have been previously posted. The failure to control the spread of this dangerous content has placed educators, faculty, staff and other students at risk. As schools return to in-person learning, families and educators continue to cope with the unprecedented social and emotional fallout of the pandemic. Now, more than ever, our school systems should not need to focus valuable staff time responding to cruel interruptions by students, who themselves are targeted by social media encouraging lawlessness, self-harm and reckless, dangerous behavior. TikTok has been repeatedly misused and abused to promote behavior and actions that encourage harmful and destructive acts. There have been reports on
the recent TikTok trend “Devious Licks,”
where students film themselves stealing from their schools and destroying classroom property. As a part of this trend, teens participate in clogging toilets and defacing bathrooms, which places an additional burden on custodial crews, as well as increased administrative costs. Another disturbing challenge for the mo
nth of October is titled “Slap a Teacher” which directs a
student to physically assault an educator for the enjoyment of receiving likes, shares, and popularity. Each and every person, especially teachers, deserves our utmost respect. Cheering others to strike another person is not comical. It is unsuitable to behave in this manner toward anyone, much less a teacher.
As you know, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act limited the liability of internet companies, like TikTok, regarding user-generated content on their platforms. However, the law did not prohibit such companies from moderating user-generated content themselves. In fact, Congress has explicitly granted platforms safe harbor for self-regulating user-generated content that is determined to be harassing or otherwise objectionable. In part due to these advantages granted by Congress, TikTok has a responsibility to make a good faith effort to moderate this offensive content more effectively. As our society continues to grapple with the negative effects of misinformation and disinformation spread throughout social media platforms, this deeply troubling trend in our schools is just the latest example of social media platforms failing to uphold their end of the deal. Social media platforms, like TikTok, have successfully captivated the attention of adolescents. With that success comes a responsibility to review and moderate unacceptable and dangerous content. A commitment to reform is desperately needed, and I look forward to discussing this critical matter and a pathway to improve. Please have a member of your staff contact our team to discuss solutions. Sincerely, Joseph D. Morelle Member of Congress