The coronavirus has spread through China and into South Korea, Iran, Brazil, several countries in Europe, and beyond.
It has also spread to TikTok, where people are making “funny” videos about the virus.
Influencers are using the hashtag #coronavirus to up their views and gain more followers, so it was only a matter of time before those on TikTok got on board.
People are dying. Can we please treat this with the respect it deserves?
According to VICE, we can’t, because ‘CoronaTokers’, ‘Fluencers’ and ‘CoronaVirals’ are a thing now.
As the virus continues to spread—with the CDC announcing that it’s not a matter of if, but when it will break out in the US—we’re only going to see more of these infuriatingly dumb and not-so-infuriatingly-dumb videos crop up on TikTok. Just a matter of time until somebody starts the Coronavirus Challenge, which definitely won’t be dangerous, problematic, or both!
Some of the videos are just straight-up racist:
And another:
That irritating song that was playing throughout both videos is a favourite amongst CoronaTokers so you’re going to be hearing it a lot.
Moving on from the racists, we have the opportunists, who are claiming to have the virus (which for the most part seems completely made-up):
I don’t know about you, but if I hear that song one more time, I’m going to break something.
Many of the videos are pretty terrible. Here’s a compilation of what’s out there:
The idiot at the beginning who thinks that the virus is a conspiracy to decrease the population should be quarantined.
The takeaway here is that if you’re getting your information from unverified sources, there is a chance it’s coming from people like those featured in the above videos.
For accurate information about symptoms, prevention and detailed updates on the number of people infected, go here, here and here.
[source:vice]
