“As we make clear in our Community Guidelines, we do not allow content that encourages, promotes, or glorifies risky behavior. “Promoting a safe and positive app environment is our top priority at TikTok,” a spokesperson for the company told The Verge, when asked about predator sting videos. TikTok seems to view the videos as inherently unsafe, and treats them as violating community guidelines as a result. Platforms have been slow in responding to the issue, but they tend to take down the accounts once they become sufficiently high profile. It has all the makings of a viral sensation - an unusually dangerous one. Most alarming, many of these stings have gone viral, with video racking up more than 2 million likes before it was removed. But there are troubling similarities to homophobic violence campaigns across the world - particularly Russia’s Occupy Pedophilia movement and the ongoing attacks on Grindr users in North Africa, both of which often present themselves as concerned with child abuse. At first glance, the videos come across as earnest efforts to protect children, a DIY version of To Catch a Predator. But it’s part of a larger and more troubling trend of anti-pedophile vigilantism on platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
This particular video came from an account called which was later taken down by TikTok for violating community guidelines. This is what a “pedo hunting” sting looks like.