Young people do overdose live on Tiktok in Bucharest, and the network suspends Ion Cristoiu's account
Rareș Ion, left, died from an overdose. To the right, Tudor Duma (Maru) while filming Rareș.
A 20 -year -old He appeared at a drug party, transmitted to Tiktok, in the live post of a convicted dealer. The brother of the kid and about 300 people present on Tiktok observed live as the young man fainted. Then, later, he died.
The Internet is not a place on another planet, where no one has jurisdiction. The same policemen and prosecutors who arrive in a home where a violence has been spent are empowered by law to intervene if the violation of the law takes place in Digital.
The place of the crime
The email that steals from the card is the place of the crime. The video conversation by which a child is banging is the place of the crime. The live drug trafficking is the place of crime. We can say it a thousand times and it would still be too little – the place also means the digital place. The facts on the net, good or bad, are no less creative of consequences, some of them being legal consequences.
The idea that violence or crimes only occur on the street is outdated. The effort of the state and justice is needed to move some of the attention where people stand more and more: on the Internet. Romanians spend almost 7 hours daily, according to a 2023 study, quoted by Newsweek.
And the young people? One third of the high school students and a quarter of those in grades V-VIII are at least five hours daily on Tiktok, according to the research of the Center for Independent Journalism.
To prohibit, delete, eliminate
Lately, against the background of political stakes, CNA, Tiktok, Facebook, ANCOM and other institutions, public or private, they are with what people say on the net. A number of journalists or opinion leaders, including Ion Cristoiu, Mirel Curea or Marius Tucă, saw their posts down or even suspended accounts.
As for television, the idea of banning some stations has been resumed. Some people believe this is the solution. The reality plus emits the bastards about people, and then the reality makers are also humiliated, with other bastards, on Romania TV. It is very good that the CNA is not passive. But prohibition is undemocratic and inefficient.
Journalists or opinion leaders who were erased on Tiktok, Facebook or YouTube did not urge violence, did not do drug trafficking and did not encourage a young man to continue filming live, in a painful addiction. They had opinions and, in a row, they endured unvafts.
You may not agree with me. Please disagree with me. This is an essential part of democracy. You cannot ask for freedom of expression and say, “Do not criticize me and do not say things that annoy me.”
Where is the danger
At a time when the resources of the state and digital companies are infinitely greater than of citizens or newsrooms, we have a common responsibility. Despite its reputation, Tiktok makes efforts to fight the toxic manifestations. At least in the EU, including in Romania, Tiktok has been showing, lately, more receptive to society and rules than networks with a better image. It would not be bad to admit their errors.
Ultimately, not annoying political or civic opinions are the stake to monitor on social networks, but instigations to violence, hate speech, discrimination and dangerous facts. These are, with everything, illegal. They are not illegal for nothing. A live with 300 people, demonstrated by Antena 3, who follow a real time with drugs is a place of crime.
