The video of a girl being beaten and harassed in Luxembourg City is said to have set matters into motion. Back in June, footage of a kneeling teenage girl being beaten, humiliated, and doused with liquid by a group of youngsters outraged many Internet users.
Some called for legal action to be taken, others expressed concern at the lack of empathy shown by the teenagers. One resident decided to take matters into her own hands by submitting a petition to the Chamber of Deputies on the same day. A fortnight later, the petitions commission gave a favourable opinion on the proposal.
Since then, more than 1,200 people have signed the petition in question, which calls for an outright ban of TikTok in Luxembourg. Why this particular social network? According to the petitioner, it is because the application is very popular with young people and “videos humiliating this young girl” continue to circulate on it.
The author argues that this social network protects the anonymity of those responsible for harassment, threats, or verbal abuse. “The most dangerous challenges are posted, endangering our children”, she continued, asserting that “anything goes”.
While this argument resonated with at least 1,200 residents, it looks like it will not be enough to trigger a debate in the Chamber of Deputies. Petitions must reach the threshold of 4,500 signatures to be eligible for discussion. The petition in question will expire at midnight on 9 August.
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It is worth noting that many countries have already decided to ban TikTok for their civil servants, though this has little to do with bullying. The United States was the first to pull the trigger and the European Commission decided to follow suit soon after. An underlying fear is that the Chinese government might get its hands on the user data of civil servants from around the world.
While these concerns are not of the same order as those of the resident behind public petition no. 2797, it would appear that the application is far from having unanimous support in Europe. France recently banned ‘recreational’ applications on the phones of civil servants. TikTok is one of them.
The Luxembourg government, for its part, has not issued any statement to this effect. For the time being, the social network does not seem to have raised any concerns among politicians in the Grand Duchy.
