Commentary
After two young girls died participating in a viral challenge, TikTok, the most popular app in the world, is being sued for promoting “dangerous algorithms.”
Created in China and exported to the world, TikTok is an app that really should be banned. However, it’s important to remember that other dangerous platforms exist.
Besides TikTok, there’s another platform that’s used by hundreds of millions of youngsters, including millions of Americans, that deserves to be scrutinized. It promotes gore, guts, violence, and sexually explicit material. Chances are, if you’re above a certain age (say, 25), you’ve never heard of it. But millions of youngsters have.
In the United States, one of the most popular live streaming platforms is called Twitch. The Amazon-owned platform primarily caters to video gamers and offers music broadcasts, business streams, and “in real life” (IRL) streams.
IRL streaming involves broadcasting activities unrelated to video gaming or business-related activities. According to author Alex Bybyk, IRL streaming “includes everything from live streaming your talents or niche hobbies to vlogging your travel adventures and everyday life.” Although similar content is popular on Facebook and YouTube, Twitch is the “undisputed king” of IRL streaming.
Icons for the smartphone apps TikTok and WeChat are seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing on Aug. 7, 2020. Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo
According to its website, Twitch “does not allow content that depicts, glorifies, encourages, or supports terrorism, or violent extremist actors or acts.” We’re told that this “includes threatening to or encouraging others to commit acts that would result in serious physical harm to groups of people or significant property destruction.”
Reality paints a very different picture, however. Twitch is akin to a horror show, full of guts, gore, and even groomers.
In the United States, the platform is wildly popular. With 44 million viewers/users—nearly the combined populations of New York state and Florida—this number is expected to grow to 51.6 million by 2024. A total of 41 percent of viewers/users are between the ages of 16 and 24. Children as young as 13 are allowed to join the platform.
