Hi everyone,

 

My name is Melanie and I am suspected to be Autistic. I also have Autistic family members and friends. This issue is close to my heart due to my own medical history and the fact it affects people close to me. 

 

Recently, I came across a video on TikTok where a young girl was filmed having an Autistic meltdown and even without analysis of the language used to describe this child's behaviour, this video was distressing to watch. I subsequently made a video to discuss how harmful this original video was and was met with comments from other people who had been filmed or threatened to be filmed when they had a meltdown - sometimes not even just when they were children. 

 

These comments and testimonials hurt me to read and so I have decided to try and make a change, for the sake of every child who has been filmed and had this content shared online. We can't stop parents filming these vulnerable moments but we can try to stop them being shared online by pressuring social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook and Twitter to change their Terms of Service to explicitly state that videos of children in distress are forbidden. 

 

Currently, TikTok's Terms of Service state that they do not allow:

"otherwise contains harmful content (such as content that causes physical, mental or moral detriment to minors)."

However, upon reporting the video I saw, I was told that TikTok found no violation.

 

Posting videos of children in distress is humiliation. 

These videos can be seen be millions of people using the platform but also by people the child knows. This could lead to bullying either online or in person. This could cause mental detriment to a minor. 

 

The Desired Outcome

The desired outcomes are as follows:

• Social media platforms must take serious reports of videos where a child is filmed visibly distressed and such content must be removed. The excuse of “for education or awareness” must not change this ruling. 
• If not already, social media platforms must have a clause in their terms of use that posting a video of a minor in distress is explicitly against the platform’s terms of use - no vague wording is to be used. It must be clear that videos where a child is distressed are forbidden
• Repeat offenders should be penalized by the social media platform 
• It should also perhaps be considered by the UK Government that filming a child in distress and subsequently posting it or distributing it should be considered as endangering the child and in the best case scenario, written as such into UK law

Alongside this petition, I will be writing to appropriate bodies such as my local MP in the UK, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in the UK, OFCOM and potentially the relevant people here in Iceland where I am currently living. 

I will also make available a letter template to encourage people to write to their local MP/Government official. 

 

Coming to terms with big emotions can be hard for children, especially children with Autism, and all children should be given the opportunity to navigate these feelings and learn to cope with them without fear of judgment, humiliation or repercussions. As long as videos of children having meltdowns or “tantrums” are allowed on social media platforms, I do not believe it is possible for children to do this. 

 

Videos like these negatively impact a child whether parents want to admit it or not. Videos like these should not be used as a tool to "raise awareness of Autism" when it comes to Autistic meltdowns. 

 

Please help stop the humiliation of vulnerable young people.