New TikTok Trend Comes With Serious Consequences
A Democrat senator is calling on TikTok to do more to combat the “devious licks” fad, which has gained popularity recently.
A viral social media trend is known as “devious licks” has prompted students to steal anything from soap dispensers to bathroom stall doors to shelves of COVID-19 tests to complete toilets as part of their participation.
Senate Democratic Leader Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut issued a letter to TikTok on Tuesday, urging the platform to do more to discourage the trend.
According to The Hill:
“You have a responsibility to delete videos, ban users, and restrict hashtags that glorify property damage and threats to school safety to prevent this destructive behavior from spreading,” Blumenthal wrote to TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew.
“While TikTok has taken steps to remove these videos, these actions were too little, too late and do not make up for the damage to schools across the country.”
At its height, the trend was said to have cost school districts thousands of dollars and forced several schools to close bathrooms, from which numerous items were being stolen.
Using more than 94,000 videos depicting students around the country tearing soap and paper towel dispensers from walls, destroying mirrors, clogging toilets, and boasting about stolen school equipment, Blumenthal accused TikTok of abusing children for financial gain on Monday.