Filmmaker blames TikTok for allowing abusive comments on video

Men accusing women of making assault claims have been common in comments on a TikTok video about sexual consent.

According to a BBC report, many of them make reference to Andrew Tate, the contentious influencer whose opinions on misogyny have caused him to be removed from multiple platforms.

The two-minute video, from an account with about 1,700 followers, has been viewed more than 1.2 million times.

The news outlet quoted its creator, Emmeline Hartley, as saying she believes TikTok’s algorithms are driving more hate towards the film.

People using TikTok are served content based on a mixture of videos they have previously liked, and on which people like them have watched and commented. 

TikTok said misogyny was prohibited on the platform.

“Our community guidelines specifically call it out as a hateful ideology and we are crystal clear that we do not want that content on our platform,” said a spokesperson.

It added that it had removed more than 100 comments from Ms Hartley’s video, which it said was a small proportion of the number that had been left.

Ms Hartley said she had found it impossible to make direct contact with someone from the platform to get help.

“We don’t have the capacity or the manpower to respond to all the comments,” Ms Hartley said.

“I thought, ‘what have I done? I’ve made a film that’s helping rape culture’.”

She says she has seen other videos on TikTok that have been swamped with abusive comments where the creator is appealing for likes and positivity to help “pull them back from the wrong side of TikTok”.

Subscribe to our Newsletter
Stay up-to-date