This year, a deadly new coronavirus has hit the headlines, infecting thousands of people and leading to huge travel bans.
The virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has been heavily discussed on social media, including on Twitter, Facebook and teen-favourite TikTok.
Now, several TikTok users have taken to Twitter to complain about ‘racist’ videos about the coronavirus outbreak.
One user tweeted: “Why is everyone on tiktok racist now? Every time there is a single Asian person in a tiktok the whole comment section is about coronavirus?"
Another added: “Coronavirus isn’t an excuse to be racist towards Asians!!! I AM SO SICK OF SEEING PEOPLE CREATE MEMES AND VIDEOS ABOUT THIS ON IG & TIKTOK.”
And one wrote: “cant go through asian tiktok without seeing ppl comment on a video and tell the creators they have the coronavirus like does it not make u feel s***ty everytime u force a racist narrative onto someone who was just tryna vibe…."
A quick search for #coronavirus on TikTok brings up a number of questionable videos.
One video, posted by user @bethanyyy_s, suggests that coronavirus may have been created by the Chinese government as an alternative to the one child policy.
Another video, by user @eduardomartin02, compared how people from around the world sneeze.
When the sneeze from a person in China was shown, the TikTok user joked running away, adding in the caption ‘Corononorona virus.’
Meanwhile, another video by user @beijingsexy mocked having a fight with a ‘Chinese kid’, showing the ‘Chinese kid’ retaliating by coughing.
These are just a few of the videos discovered by Mirror Online on TikTok, although it’s likely there are many more.
TikTok’s Terms and Conditions state that users may not use ‘any material that is racist or discriminatory, including discrimination on the basis of someone’s race, religion, age, gender, disability or sexuality.’
However, it remains unclear how TikTok vets videos for racist content, unless they’re specifically reported by users.
Mirror Online has contacted TikTok for comment.
