The actions may also express skepticism in regard to measures taken to mitigate the pandemic by those who have been influenced by the right-wing media campaign against lockdowns and masking, or by sentiments articulated by their parents.
On the contrary, they reflect to a considerable extent the pessimism and disorientation of those carrying out the various thefts. The “Devious Licks” videos and the theft of PPE and other materials are not actions aimed at mobilizing students against the present conditions. This is reactionary nonsense, which only plays into the hands of the authorities and the police. This will not stop some on the pseudo-left from attempting to endow such activities with an incipient “anti-capitalist ethos.” In April, Protean, an online journal produced by a self-proclaimed “leftist media collective,” carried an article, “Shoplifting Communities: Sharing Tactics and Anti-Corporate Principles,” which noted that “Shoplifting has risen dramatically since the pandemic began.” The article points to one “decentralized anarchist collective” that promotes “scamming and shoplifting as a response to the injustices of capitalism.” There is nothing remotely progressive about the “Devious Licks” videos or the acts of theft and vandalism. Blumenthal, one of the richest individuals in Congress, has organized an upcoming hearing to discuss the impact of social media on youth. In mid-September, US Senator Richard Blumenthal (Democrat from Connecticut) wrote a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew urging the platform to ban videos, users and hashtags related to the trend. Please be kind to your schools and teachers.” We’re removing content and redirecting hashtags and search results to our Community Guidelines to discourage such behavior. One student posted a video of a campus police officer entering a classroom to perform a random bag search to find any stolen items.Īfter two weeks of the trend gaining traction, TikTok responded in mid-September by deleting accounts and videos, as well as redirecting related hashtags to their community guidelines with the message, “We expect our community to create responsibly-online and IRL.
Videos on TikTok record angry messages from school administrators over loudspeakers threatening criminal charges or offering $100-$500 cash rewards to any student who turns informant. Students have also posted videos bringing to light the various security measures and responses by school officials. In addition, authorities have fined and charged numerous students, with arrests coming in various parts of the country.
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School districts in nearly all 50 US states, plus locations in Canada and the UK, have reported being “hit” by the trend.ĭistricts have responded by suspending and expelling students and imposing heightened security measures, including closing public restrooms for days at a time, tracking and limiting student restroom breaks and installing more cameras on campuses, especially near bathroom entrances. The videos have generated an uproar in the media, cries for more severe punishment for those involved and the demand by politicians and school district officials that TikTok be “held accountable” and greater censorship imposed on the platform. In addition, there have been multiple videos of bathrooms vandalized, with stall doors, mirrors, soap dispensers, sinks, toilets or urinals removed, broken or thrown across the room. Videos of students having stolen a microscope, computer or school street signage each reached two to three million views in under 24 hours. Hundreds of copycat TikTok videos were posted in response, many trying to outdo the previous ones. One student, for example, posted a video of himself unzipping his backpack and pulling out a hand sanitizer dispenser with the caption, “only a month into school and got this absolute devious lick.” In two days, the video was viewed over seven million times. The “Devious Licks” trend began in September as videos of students having stolen personal protective equipment (PPE) from school-such as masks, hand sanitizer and tissues-were posted on social media. The phenomenon, a form of backward and anti-social protest, no doubt reflects the anger and confusion of a portion of young people under conditions of a deadly pandemic and general political instability and crisis.
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