TikTok suicide video: Handling of Brazil incident draws skepticism

TikTok has once again come under severe criticism after The Intercept reported that a youth in Brazil livestreamed his suicide on the videoharing app last year.

The report said that TikTok took three hours to inform police in Brazil about the inicdent which involved a 19-year-old person.

The company reportedly made the attempt to stop the story of the suicide from going viral when officials at TikTok came to now about the horrific live-stream.

The officials, according to The Intercept, waited to contact the law enforcement agencies only after they had taken steps to ensure the livestream video didn’t go viral.

The Intercept report stated that the Brazilian teen’s TikTok suicide video remained up on the platform for over hour and a half.

By the time it was taken down by the officials, the video had received 500 comments and 15 complaints.

Business Insider reported that TikTok, while commenting on The Intercept report, blamed the incident on “breakdown in the process in which the company dealt with the video”.

According to the report, the company said it has taken “disciplinary action” against some employees.

It further said certain changes have been made to TikTok review process, without elaborating further.

As The Intercept video surfaced only, people took to social media platforms to criticize TikTok.