Tiktok is still on unstable ground in the United States. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court confirmed a law passed by Congress last year that required a ban on Chinese application unless it was sold to a buyer approved by the government.
A few hours before the entry into force of the law, Tiktok went for a while dark and then ran back to life when President Trump, the day before his inauguration, showed support for the application. He then signed an executive order that sets the prohibition for 75 days.
Whether the application will disappear for good is unclear, but in the meantime, there are four true crime stories associated with Tiktok-the most downloaded application in the United States and the world in 2020, 2021 and 2022-that have widely caught wider attention.
Of course, it is no secret that the glossy dance videos that have lived in Tiktok since its founding, along with a lot of content, are more fantasy than reality. But this is little comfort in the revelations revealed in this 2024 Netflix series.
“Dancing for the Devil” mainly spends time with the dancers managed by Talent Company 7m and were members of the Shekinah church – both entities founded and guided by Pastor Robert Shinn – as well as desperate members of the family of those family still participate with 7m. These families claim that their loved ones are essentially trapped.
Shinn created 7m to help Tiktok dancers seemingly and the aspiring influences raise their status. The dancers we hear from the claim that 7m is a cult and that Shinn is an abusive leader of worship. The categories include those of fraud, work violations, blackmail, care and attack. (Shinn did not participate in a row and denies an offense.)
“Dancing for the Devil” falls into a category of true crime that looks less behind and instead documents a situation that continues to unfold. The critic of our film praised the series of three parts to avoid rushing the narrative, called “bold, teaching, thoughtful and moving”.
Documentary
Last year I wrote about how true crime narrators had little in the way of the first person in real time to rely. Now, as much of our daily lives are documented, the species has been transformed. And there has never been a trace of doomed videos and sound, as it was in this case – he said in this 2024 PEACOCK documentary – about the murders of Ana Abulaban and Rayburn Barron, who were killed by the alienated husband of Ana , Ali Abulaban.
Ali was a Tiktok star who, under the Jinnkid username, won a screening and millions of fans with Skyrim comedies and impressions of “Scarface”. He recorded much of his life on his phone, and as his marriage and Ana unfolded, it broadcasts their struggles live, dismantling the perfect image they had on the internet.
Even the sound was recorded at the time of the murder, and the cameras of the neighbors’ bells in the luxurious San Diego high occupied the consequences.
This is a story of domestic violence, jealousy and addiction, and the way in which a stabilization in the reputation of social media can distort reality beyond repair.
Documentary
Each episode of this series of Discovery Series, which made its debut last year and broadcasts to Max and Hulu, examines a different crime associated with the social media underwater.
Here we learn about Sania Khan, a photographer and Pakistani American influence, whose Tiktok inflated when he began to speak sincerely about his breakdown by her husband, Raheel Ahmad, after a hectic and abusive marriage.
The content of the bond type is everywhere in social media, but for Han, the preparation of her privacy was particularly brave because of the conservative communities of South Asia and the Muslims from which they were part-time awaiting women to maintain The status quo and put their family a reputation first.
While women of women celebrated her sincerity and at the same time with her pain in comments, there was also a violent reaction from those who believed that her positions were shameful and proceeded to harass, the terrible and threatened her.
When it was just a few hours since the start of a new chapter in her life, the worst happened.
This episode is particularly painful, because Han’s story is largely one of its closest friends, who focus on its turmoil and its mission to modernize its culture, push taboos and regain its identity.
Digital order
When Tareasa Johnson, known on the Internet as Reesa Teesa, posted a series of 50 parts on the Tiktok page last year, citing her doomed marriage to her ex-husband-a drama that includes claims of fraud, forgery and handling-the internet was rivet. As the story unfolded, every revelation more shocking than the latter, gained hundreds of millions of views.
All in, the video clock in over six hours, but it is worth it. It is also a refreshing way to experience stories like these: stripped, little produced and said directly from the person to the center.
The series could eventually disappear for American users along with the application. But if you lose it, Natasha Rothwell (“The White Lotus”) is developing a TV adaptation of Saga.