TikTok, the Chinese-based short-video platform, is at the center of numerous controversies not only for its cultural impact on young people, but also for its growing use by organized crime.
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According to several experts and observers, including the well-known anti-mafia magistrate Nicola Gratteri, TikTok has become a real “showcase of the mafia“, where criminals brazenly display luxury items, money and arrogant attitudes, promoting a seductive lifestyle to vulnerable young people.
Gratteri in fact declared:
“TikTok is the showcase of the mafia: they show themselves as rich, designer, with lots of money and say 'we are the new model, do you want to become like us?'. Young people without a structure find themselves entangled and think that this is their future”.
His words highlight a disturbing reality: TikTok's algorithm seems to favor the spread of this content, rewarding videos that generate more interactions, often those that show ostentatious wealth and illicit behavior.
The TikTok Algorithm: An Ally of Crime?
The success of these videos is closely linked to the functioning of the platform's algorithm. TikTok rewards content that gets more views and interactions, without operating an effective filter that can separate the legal from the iillegal. In this way, criminals are able to reach a very large audience, influencing young people who see that type of life as an aspiration.
But that's not all. TikTok has systematically eliminated all forms of traditional media, especially local media, which historically represent the true heart of news. Unlike platforms like Facebook or Twitter, which have tried to maintain a balance by also hosting newspapers and local news, TikTok wanted to distance itself from this type of information, considered too uncomfortable to keep inside. This deprived the platform of an authoritative voice that could have countered the spread of dangerous content, leaving room for more “smart” and less transparent figures.
The removal of local media, often the most reliable source for reporting and keeping tabs on significant events in communities, has made it even more difficult to counter the distorted narratives promoted by criminals and influencers without scruples. TikTok's choice to prefer lighter or more polarizing content seems to be part of a strategy aimed at aligning content with its algorithms, to better control and manipulate information, which today represents the true power of the new millennium.
Surveillance and Control: The Case of Francesco Emilio Borrelli
Despite these concerns, there are figures who are trying to counteract the negative influence of social media. Among them, the deputy Francesco Emilio Borrelli, known for his commitment against organized crime and his careful monitoring of content on TikTok. Borrelli has managed to build a reporting network thanks to the help of citizens and his supporters, who every day report the use of the platform by criminals.
Through this network, Borrelli and his team they are able to identify videos that glorify criminal life and report them, trying to limit their impact on young people. “It's a difficult job, but necessary.", he has declared Borrelli, underlining how essential collaboration with citizens is to identify and counter problematic content, which often escapes the automatic controls of the social network.
Information Manipulation: The Real Goal?
TikTok’s role in promoting dangerous and distorted models seems to be part of a broader strategy of information manipulation. In an era where control of news is power, control of video content and narratives that circulate on digital platforms becomes a fundamental lever to influence society.
If TikTok is truly attempting to manipulate the flow of information to standardize content and shape opinion, the platform could pose a threat not just to young people, but to society as a whole. The removal of local media, which has traditionally provided an important counterweight to biased narratives, further accentuates this risk, opening the door to content that reinforces harmful patterns.
TikTok, which began as an entertainment platform, is increasingly turning into a vehicle for organized crime and information manipulation. While figures like Nicola Gratteri and Francesco Emilio Borrelli continue to denounce and monitor the dangers of social media, the question of how to regulate the platform remains open. If we don't intervene soon, the risk is that TikTok Becomes the Primary Means of Spreading Dangerous Lifestyle Models and ideologies that undermine the security and stability of our societies.
Article published on 17 September 2024 - 14:07
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