There are a lot of different trends happening on TikTok, and some of them can be dangerous, like the April 24th trend that the platform previously published.
The April 24 trend glorifies the criminal act of sexual assault and was first introduced during 2021 Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
This horrifying trend is also known as “National Rape Day,” although this is of course not an official national day.
Some believe there was an original video allegedly made by a group of men encouraging others to commit acts of sexual assault on this day, falsely claiming it was legal.
However, this claim was found to be unsubstantiated and evidence of the first threat described did not exist, according to USA Today.
“After examining more than 100 videos under #april24 on TikTok, we found no record of the original allegedly threatening video, with some creators claiming to have seen the video,” the publication said. “But they didn’t share links, stitch, or duet.”
Most of the videos identified from the hashtag were safety warnings or condemnations of the day, including advice for women to stay home, travel in groups, and carry weapons.
TikTok also admitted that there was no video evidence.
In a statement released in 2021, a spokesperson for the platform said: “Keeping our community safe is our priority and we do not promote or glorify non-consensual sexual acts, including rape and sexual assault. “We do not tolerate content.”
“While we have found no evidence of videos related to this subject matter on our platform, our safety team remains vigilant and will remove content that violates our policies.”
However, if you see someone celebrating this trend online, it’s important to report them.
There are various ways to report inappropriate content on TikTok, listed here for each platform.
If you’re on mobile, open the app and navigate to the video you want to report. Next, long press on the video and a drop-down menu will appear;[レポート]Select to see instructions.
Alternatively, you can fill out TikTok’s online form to flag content here.
If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your local rape crisis organization for expert, independent and confidential support.For more information, please visit our website here.
sign up Receive your free indy100 weekly newsletter
way to participate indy100’s free WhatsApp channel
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help move this article higher in the indy100 rankings.
