TikTok skyrocketed to a major social media platform in Pakistan during covid, when quarantine boredom found thousands of teenagers and young adults using the platform to upload fun, short clips of themselves doing anything. Literally anything- an outfit check, lip-syncing, dancing, walking (?), telling stories, whatever, really. It didn’t take long for a group of popular tiktokers to rise to fame, gaining millions of followers and becoming the one-to-be for all teenagers. This meant what they wore, what they did, where they went, and the dark reality of who they used and abused—everything comes out.
What’s important to remember here is that they are all teenagers or in their 20s, given a platform to freely do and upload anything they wish, with millions in their audience being heavily influenced by them, some viewers as young as 10. I will be focusing on the curly haired (or front poof), golden hour filter TikTok boys for a certain reason- the allegations of pedophilia and abuse that have recently been exposed about them and why this should be a top concern considering the young boys viewing these men as potential role models.
The image tiktok boys have constructed is lucrative and based upon normalizing and glorifying inappropriate behavior, whether that be through the songs they are lipsyncing to, the actions and anything else they do that glorifies behaving in a way that would get you called out in the real world.
featuring @mujtaba.hashmi
Before I start, quick PSA that this is not any hate intended to all men making tiktoks. It is a platform everyone may use as they wish, however, certain behaviors are making a huge impact on young audiences since social media can be referred to as a pedagogy due to increased usage by younger audiences.
If any more tiktoks come to mind, please comment below!
Featuring @whyyusufkhan2.0
featuring @whoisraheelanyways and @whyyusufkhan2.0
Nani ka phone- the Raheel situation Within the past few days, a tiktoker by the name of Raheel (@whoisraheelanyways) has been exposed on serious allegations of pedophilia. He was outed for having relations with minors. Despite this, he continues to post tiktoks, and claims he is innocent- because they also flirted back. The entire Pakistani tiktok community has reacted to this- with memes. An extremely serious situation has been reduced to a joke, another hashtag, and another thing to post about for attention.
featuring @shehramleghari19
Is using humor in such contexts appropriate, considering the young lay audience watching these may downplay the seriousness of the situation?
There have been numerous controversies and issues regarding different creators on TikTok. I believe that most of these controversies stem from the sole factor of easy usability and availability of the app. Unlike Facebook and Instagram, where some form of education is required to understand the functioning of the apps, TikTok, by far, has the most user-friendly interface that allows anyone to make videos regarding any topic. However, the app also has a problematic side since users get away with things without having to be accountable to any authority whatsoever.
The entire controversy regarding Raheel's case on TikTok further sheds light on the lack of accountability on the platform. After dating 11 minors, Raheel still has 78.0k followers on TikTok,…
Being a tiktok user myself, I have been approached by multiple friends with the query as to why I haven’t made one on Raheel’s “meri pyari si jaan” audio. Your post and these comments really made me reflect, does a case that belongs in the law’s hand has demeaned to the point of where we infact, do the Pedophile a favour by making them Trending no.1? Using audios like this does drive away from the gravity of the situation since people use it for all laughs and fun, not understanding the connotations behind their “jokes”. Raheel, as you mentioned had the audacity to continue posting normally withouting addressing his actions or taking accountability, he used the very viral sound used…
While I completely agree with this post and how pedophilia is something that is so very common nowadays, I think it’s also important to take note of how tiktok and other platforms are taking the situation. People think its become a joke. This TikToker named Mustafa is apparently coming out with a roast track on Raheel? People are constantly using Raheel’s audio of “‘meri pyari si pyari si pyari si jaan” just because it’s funny when all of this is really not a joke. It’s sad that people are using this situation to gain popularity and to come on the FYP (for you page). I remember about till a week ago, my whole entire for you page was FULL of…
Tiktok is one of the most controversial platforms in Pakistan, having been banned multiple times owing to its contentious past. However, because it is so addictive, our youth discover ways to use it despite the laws. This is why it was finally legalised. Raheel's incident has been in the news for quite some time, and it is encouraging to see young people speaking out against inappropriate behavior on such a platform. Raheel cheated on multiple minors, which is considered paedophilia. There are highly strong laws against paedophilia across the world, yet in Pakistan, these laws exist but are not enforced. One of our flaws in this situation is a lack of knowledge about cyberbullying, as well as a lack of…
I believe that this entire raheel issue is really serious. So a guy basically has multiple relationships with minors and exploits them for money and people decided to make a joke about it. Tiktok consumers used raheel’s name and hashtag to get their 15 seconds of fame and reach the foryoupage. Nobody really used the platform to talk about the issue, nobody understood the severity of the issue or realised this is a real offence. Nobody utilized the platform to educate others. The real issue is that every time an issue comes up associated to women , people are already prepared to make memes out of the situation. When our people can make memes out of rape victims , th…