TikTok and YouTube are contributing to minority gang violence in Ireland, security sources in the country claim.
Both platforms frequently host so-called “call out videos”, posted mainly by Irish traveller males threatening each other, or challenging a rival faction or personality to some sort of altercation.
Irish travellers are an ethnic minority in Ireland.
Speaking to local media, Irish security sources say there is “no doubt” among authorities these videos on the two platforms are leading to “increased tensions and violence between feuding” groups.
Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok have both insisted they are not blocking or limiting the spread of pro-Palestine content. https://t.co/JcfvtjNA0o
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) October 27, 2023
“We have had situations where [Irish law enforcement] are putting policing plans in place after call-out videos are posted,” they say.
“It’s crazy, but this is the way of the world,” they add.
The source adds the travellers “engaged in these videos love it”. Each video frequently results in multiple response videos from rivals.
Such videos are also frequently viewed by outside audiences, who often find humour in the unusual accents of those involved, along with some of their more verbose insults and threats.
One reuploaded call-out video posted on YouTube has garnered hundreds of thousands of views, with one user describing it as “pure comedy gold”.
Both TikTok and YouTube now have obligations under the EU’s Digital Services Act to take down so-called “cyberviolence” once they are notified of it.
The European Commission has told European Union Member States to “fast track” the bloc’s online censorship powers under the Digital Services Act. https://t.co/TH44KNai7J
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) October 19, 2023
