April 24 is trending on TikTok for disturbing reasons. The Chinese social media application, which is popular in countries such as the United States, has seen the hashtag #april24 over 31.1 million views and a thousand videos at the time of publication, according to reports.
But why is it trending?
According to a report by USA Today, the worrisome trend is spreading on TikTok as communities commemorate Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. The trend pertains to a “National Rape Day”, and as per the report states that the most common explanation is that six men made a TikTok video encouraging other people to commit sexual assaults on April 24.
The imagined danger has sparked reactions from millions of individuals on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. However, USA Today said in its report that neither the publication nor TikTok itself had found any evidence of the threat that users had issued warnings about.
What TikTok Has Said
Another widely circulated image claims that “six men on TikTok” made the threat and “claimed that on April 24, 2021, it’s legal to sexually assault anybody — and they even provided tips on how to do so.” This picture is a screenshot from a Distractify article that was published on April 17. Now, social media users are engaging in the conversation on various platforms.
While other posts issued veiled warnings to individuals who could commit assaults, several posts recommended women to stay at home, travel in groups, and carry weapons, the report says.
Several US law enforcement officials joined the craze by recording films warning would-be attackers that they would be arrested. In a response to USA TODAY, TikTok admitted that it had not discovered the alleged 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. 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,” a TikTok spokesperson wrote to USA Today.
Disturbing Trends on TikTok
According to Distractify, TikTok has evolved into a hub of cultural activity by popularising dancing challenges, assisting political activists in spreading the word, and providing a new era of social media influencing. Due to its popularity, TikTok has unfortunately also given rise to several risky habits.
TikTok is currently banned in India due to cited security reasons, while many US states are also mulling and moving towards a similar ban. Read more on this here
Last week, a disturbing TikTok challenge took a life of a 13-year-old boy, Jacob Stevens, from Ohio, US. The boy tragically died after overdosing on over-the-counter medication while attempting a viral TikTok trend called ‘Benadryl Challenge’. As per reports, Jacob Stevens ingested 12-14 pills of Benadryl while his friends shot the video. This challenge encourages viewers to take large doses of the antihistamine to “experience hallucinations”. Read more on this here
Unfortunately, it is quite challenging to stop these frequently dangerous trends before they spread over the internet due to the app’s eyeball-seeking algorithm, according to a report by New York Post.
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