A Taxonomy of TikTok Panics

On the Media

WNYC Studios

Magazine, Newspapers, Media, 1st, Advertising, Social Sciences, Studios, Radio, Transparency, Tv, History, Science, News Commentary, Npr, Technology, Amendment, Newspaper, Wnyc, News, Journalism

4.6 • 8.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2023

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At the end of 2022, Congress passed legislation to ban TikTok from all government devices, citing data privacy concerns and potential ties between the app and the Chinese government. But this isn't the first time the incredibly popular social media platform occupied headlines. Ever since TikTok exploded worldwide in 2018, news outlets across the country have breathlessly reported on TikTok challenges, which they claim range from the bizarre (licking toilet seats) to the dangerous ("National School Shooting Day"). However, the actual reach and impact of these challenges remain mysterious — or, more often, minimal.

On the Media correspondent Micah Loewinger breaks down a short history of these TikTok panics, and looks into the failures of news outlets to judiciously report on overblown TikTok virality, as well as the cyclic paranoia that arises when we face new technology (think: comic books corrupting youth in the 1950s). He poses the question: haven't we been through this already?

Special thanks to New York City Municipal Archives for providing archival audio related to the effects of radio and comics books on children.

This segment originally aired on our May 13th, 2022 program, Seeing is Believing.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to The On The Media Podcast Extra.
0:04.1	I'm Michael Lohinger.
0:06.1	Happy New Year.
0:07.3	In the final weeks of 2022, Congress passed a new law aimed at America's favorite Chinese
0:13.5	website.
0:14.5	Republicans and Democrats uniting on something interesting.
0:17.4	Opposition to TikTok.
0:19.8	Congress is moving forward with a bill to ban TikTok on government devices and mid-concerns
0:24.9	over China collecting users' data.
0:27.4	Of course, the privacy concerns underlying the bill were accompanied by some predictably
0:33.2	panic discourse.
0:34.7	GOP rep, Mike Gallagher, is calling the app Digital Fentanyl.
0:38.8	Gallagher is calling for more to be done.
0:41.0	He wants the app banned from the US entirely.
0:43.8	The comparison is apt for at least two reasons.
0:46.6	One, it's highly addictive and destructive, and we're seeing troubling data about the
0:51.9	corrosive impact of constant social media use, particularly on young men and women here
0:57.8	in America.
0:59.2	Ever since the app became a hit, evening news here in abroad have confronted us with a never-ending
1:05.2	stream of evidence, showing how its users are having their minds hijacked.
1:11.4	I mean, the number of hits on TikTok in the billions.
1:17.4	If you need evidence that people have truly lost their minds, there's a new TikTok
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WNYC Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WNYC Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.