Twitter calls out disturbing new TikTok Holocaust trend

There is a part of me that wants to believe at least some people had a genuine desire to educate, however naïve and offensive the creators themselves come across.

One 17-year-old who took part spoke to The Insider to explain that the trend was created to ‘share these stories’ and spread public awareness about the horrific atrocities that took place during the Second World War.

Regardless of their intent, these videos are as far off the mark as possible and have faced a barrage of deserved criticism. The hashtag #HolocaustChallenge has been described as ‘trauma porn’ on Twitter and can no longer be found on TikTok if you try searching for it. TikTok has very obviously attempted to squash any access to this type of content and many of the original posts have since been deleted.

The Auschwitz Memorial Museum wanted to stress in its statement that there are other, more serious topics surrounding the Holocaust that could do with equal attention. Denial of its existence remains rampant online and tech companies such as Facebook have been woeful at stamping down on dangerous and racist misinformation. While it’s one thing to trivialise tragedy, it’s another entirely to reject historical fact for the sake of alt right-wing narratives and political posturing.

TikTok users who’ve created these ‘cosplay’ videos should be able use this as an educational opportunity rather than face a tide of shame online. The information they’re presenting is at the very least factual despite its offensive and upsetting delivery and the majority of TikToks created for this ‘challenge’ were by young teenagers.

The museum was keen to encourage teachers and educational institutions to work ‘with young people to present the facts and stories but also teach and discuss how to commemorate in a meaningful and respectful way’. Either way we’re unlikely to see more content like this pop up in the immediate future.

Now if Facebook could get itself together and ban the dangerous denial content that litters its news feeds instead of promoting it, that would be dandy.