New Delhi: Popular video making app TikTok’s rating on Google Playstore has gone down to two stars after a video ‘glorifying’ acid attack led to calls for its ban.
The video by popular TikTok creator Faizal Siddiqui shows him throwing water on a girl that transitions to her having makeup similar to acid burn marks.
"Oh he is not throwing acid, he is just throwing a glass of water on the girl's face coz he rejected his advances"
As if it's okay to throw water, Somehow the smaller crimes get normalised. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/33CdctYtGP
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) May 18, 2020
Siddiqui, who has close to 13 million followers on TikTok, had made the video earlier but it has gone viral only recently. The National Commission of Women (NCW) has also taken cognizance of the matter and filed a complaint against the TikToker to the DGP Maharashtra.
@NCWIndia have contacted Tik-Tok India @TikTok_IN to remove the video & delete the account of #FaizalSiddiqui that instigate committing violence against women. pic.twitter.com/1QMHpUgQs8
— NCW (@NCWIndia) May 18, 2020
Written to @DGPMaharashtra DGP to take action against #FaizalSiddiqui. Also wrote to @TikTok_IN to block this person from the platform, though they have deleted the video from it after a call from @NCWIndia https://t.co/drBqy9ykji pic.twitter.com/X1CpM8soBt
— Rekha Sharma (@sharmarekha) May 18, 2020
Acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal also took to Instagram and thanked the NCW for taking action against Siddiqui.
“Thanks to the National Commission for Women for taking cognizance of the viral video by TikTok ‘influencer’ Faizal Siddiqui promoting acid attack. Such videos/actions should be strictly debarred which are against the society,” she wrote.
#BanTikTok trends on Twitter
The demand to ban TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, and block Siddiqui from the platform gained momentum on Twitter Monday, as the hashtag #BanTikTok started trending.
Unbelievable. I bet he wouldn’t think twice before throwing acid at a woman. I hope this pervert got arrested. This is the kind of behaviour that normalises crime against women. Other examples: lewd lyrics that pass off as creativity, and normalising stalking in Indian films. https://t.co/j7l3oa4ALS
— Neelesh Misra (@neeleshmisra) May 18, 2020
He has almost 14 million followers.
Problem is not the video it's the sick mentality of justifying violence against women.
And those shielding him are bigger threat for such crimes than this bigot.— ravib (@ravibahadur13) May 18, 2020
The problem here is not just with the individuals, but also with @TikTok_In as a platform which lets such videos that promote such problematic behaviour thrive on their platforms. It is obvious why an individual is being targeted, but the problem here is much larger. pic.twitter.com/iBXpHk5Jwd
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 18, 2020
The problem is with these ‘trends’ on TikTok! So many people made this video. The platform is a problem. It’s uncontrolled. Just like Twitter where rape threats are normal. And if action has to be taken then it should be taken on all. https://t.co/L6MisUOPjC https://t.co/9CA39tZsym
— Sayema (@_sayema) May 18, 2020
Soon after, the app’s rating went down from four to two stars in the Google Playstore.
Siddiqui, meanwhile, released a statement on his Instagram account saying that he was only drinking water and the woman shown in the video is a make-up artist.
In April, a roast had begun between the creators of YouTube and TikTok in which YouTuber Carry Minati had made a video on another TikToker. YouTube later took the video down, which had over 70 million views in two days. Since then, Minati’s fans have also been demanding a ban on the Chinese app too.