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Connecticut Attorney General William Tong (D) urged TikTok executives on Monday to meet with teachers and parents across the state – and himself – to complete the “Slap a Teacher” challenge on the app.
“TikTok fails to control the distribution of dangerous content. In CT, vandalism has closed schools and the new “Slap a Teacher” challenge may put educators at risk. I urge TikTok to come to CT to meet educators and parents and engage in reforms that stop this reckless content, ”Tong tweeted.
TikTok cannot control the distribution of dangerous content. In CT, vandalism has closed schools and the new “Slap a Teacher” challenge may put educators at risk. I urge TikTok to come to CT to meet educators and parents and engage in reforms that end this reckless content. pic.twitter.com/soO2wVT49M
– AG William Tong (@AGWilliamTong) October 4, 2021
The challenge is for a student to calmly approach a teacher and slap him in the face. It was due to start in October, although it does not appear to have gained momentum yet.
In Lancaster County, South Carolina, however, parents were notified of the challenge Monday after an elementary school student appeared to act on the challenge, WYFF reported.
“Unfortunately, the challenge that was launched this month is to slap or punch a staff member from behind,” the district told parents. “Unfortunately, an elementary school student assaulted a teacher by hitting her on the back of the head.”
In a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Tong requested to meet with him to discuss “TikTok’s damaging impact on the mental and physical safety of young people in Connecticut.”
He highlighted the September TikTok “Devious Licks” challenge in which students vandalized and stole public property, with many teens taking the challenge in their schools.
“Now there is new concern that a viral ‘slap a teacher’ could put educators at risk. Families and educators are already facing the unprecedented social and emotional fallout from the pandemic,” Tong said. “The last thing we need right now is for kids to be inundated with targeted social media promoting lawlessness, self-harm, and reckless and dangerous behavior.”
While praising TikTok for taking action to remove the ‘Devious Licks’ challenge, Tong said the app is negatively affecting young people, pointing to “young people overdosing on drugs, disfiguring their bodies and indulging in wide variety of physically dangerous acts “.
“Put simply, everything TikTok has done to enforce its Terms of Service has not worked and deserves serious review and reform. I ask you to share a detailed description of all the policies and procedures in place for prevent abuse and misuse of your platform, ”Tong wrote.
The Hill reached out to TikTok for a response.
This is not the first time the app has been targeted by U.S. government officials. In the summer of last year, the former President Trump
Donald Trump Ambassador to Afghanistan on whether Afghans will trust an American president again said it would ban TikTok from operating in the United States, fearing that US user data could be shared with the Chinese government.
A federal judge issued an order prohibiting the Trump administration from preventing downloading of TikTok, and the ban ultimately did not take place.
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