Sometimes the internet is a bad place and the “Autism Challenge” on TikTok is a perfect representation of that. It’s an awful display of uneducated people belittling others for being different.
TikTok lends itself to theme-driven posts often referred to as “challenges”. They’re calls to action that begin with one person doing something remarkable or entertaining in the video, prompting others to repeat it. Sometimes, they’re actual challenges in that they’re something difficult to execute. Other times, they can be ridiculous ideas intended to be a gag. Either way, they’re usually focused on bringing the community together and illustrating how people from all over the world are similar in some ways.
This autism challenge shows that lots of people are horrible. As the name implies, it’s a video campaign compelling people to act in ways they identify as being similar to people with autism. The intention seems to be making people laugh, but being born with a non-preventable developmental disorder that affects 1 in 54 children isn’t exactly comedy.
TikTok was pushed to respond from multiple sources online, from journalists to its own users, but a large chunk of the people expressing anger toward the platform are Twitter users. Part of the reason for Twitter’s outrage comes from the growing dislike and distrust of TikTok from people who prioritize other platforms or simply don’t understand the trend. These are people who aren’t even on the platform advocating for a change to its policies. So, for many, the autism challenge is just another example of why TikTok is an awful place.
TikTok’s Response Is Crucial
A report on Parentology mentions a TikTok spokesperson gave a response saying the videos violate the platform’s code of conduct and that the original post was removed. The statement also urged people to make use of TikTok’s reporting options to highlight inappropriate content. TikTok also removed the hashtag for the autism challenge within hours of it becoming popular.
On the user end, the videos were popular in certain circles, and there are people crying censorship, as is to be expected. However, the primary reaction has been one of solidarity with many TikTokers posting videos with the same song as the one in the challenge, but promoting support for the disabled rather than mocking them. As of right now, searching for TikTok posts attached to that song produce more positive videos than negative, partially because of the overwhelming outcry over the challenge, and partially due to TikTok’s moderation.
