TikTok bans ‘Super Straight’ hashtag for spreading “hateful ideologies”
Super StraightTikTok has banned the ‘Super Straight’ hashtag along with its original creators for spreading “hate speech and hateful ideologies,” after many called out the transphobic nature of the trend.
The term Super Straight was originally popularized by TikTok user Kyle Royce, who, in a now-deleted video, told viewers that he had “made a new sexuality.”
He said, “now, I’m Super Straight. I only date the opposite gender, women, that are born women. So you can’t say I’m transphobic now because that’s just my sexuality.”
The video quickly picked up traction before it was deleted, and spread to other sites like Twitter and Reddit, with some people even making flags and putting them in their bios. However, many slammed the trend for being transphobic, as it was being used to perpetuate hate towards transgender people.
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It also later transpired that many of the symbols that were being associated with the Super Straight tag, and used in some of the flags, were other hate symbols.
However, a TikTok representative speaking to PinkNews revealed that they were banning the tag from the platform, along with Kyle Royce who posted the original video.
TikTok said, “Our community guidelines make clear that we do not tolerate hate speech or hateful ideologies, and we take action when issues are brought to our attention,” adding that, “We will continue to monitor this situation for further developments and take action wherever necessary.”
Attempting to access the hashtag via TikTok now brings up the error message, “no results found.” Beneath this is a note that reads, “this phrase may be associated with behavior or content that violates our guidelines. Promoting a safe and positive experience is TikTok’s top priority.”
It does appear, however, that some hashtags with deliberate misspellings of Super Straight have been popping up on the app, with people looking to replace the now-banned tag. But, it’s clear that TikTok is cracking down on these types of harmful trends.