Kantayya explores issues coming out of China’s influence over the app and some of its early missteps. First, she presents the story of a Chinese researcher in Wuhan who warned of the first cases of COVID-19 and his sudden death from the coronavirus and the government cover-up. Then she moves on to TikTok’s shadowbanning practice of people who are ugly, have tattoos, facial disfigurements, or are black. The problem got worse when videos about the 2020 BLM protests received no views on the app.
TikTok Boom then goes into various social issues surrounding the app. Featured prominently is tech expert Taylor Lorenz, who knows something about how social media is a cesspool of trolling, personal attacks, and doxing. Are your kids safe on the app? How does it affect their mental health? Most frightening were creepy dudes dueting videos with young children.
“…has many valuable insights into TikTok…”
What I found most fascinating and sad was the dependence on creators who rely on TikTok for their income, relevance, and self-worth. Aziz found out the hard way that unless you fall in line with specific messaging, your livelihood could be instantly turned off. It’s scary how far a creator will go to make influencer a viable career.
This leads to my most significant criticism of TikTok Boom — it’s very anti-Trump to the point that the third act becomes all about the former POTUS and his threatened ban of TikTok. Love him or hate him, the documentary takes that attitude that because Trump said this or did that it’s automatically evil. Kantayya chooses to ignore any nuance or valid issues, which at times contradicts essential points made earlier.
TikTok Boom has many valuable insights into TikTok and the direction society and social discourse are headed. The first two-thirds are worth watching and pondering. Unfortunately, the final act gets overly political and somewhat lazy as it just assumes everyone hates Trump and simply goes off on him. It’s a shame that the image you walk away with is the sour taste of the last election. My advice is to watch the first hour but skip the final thirty minutes.
TikTok Boom screened at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and the 2022 SFFilm Festival.
"…about as comprehensive a film as you can find about the app phenomenon..."
