When TikTok began gaining popularity amongst the Malaysian masses, it was deemed as a platform for creativity and community building and a conduit for social media entrepreneurs to grow their respective businesses.

All that is happening, but the platform has also cultivated a dark and dangerous subculture within the Malaysian Tamil TikTok community, by evolving into a digital battlefield mired by cyberbullying and privacy breaches.

The Tamil TikTok space is currently dominated by several nameless, faceless accounts which use handles designed to project an image of combat and dominance while ruling “the roost’.

Some of these evil characters have created a branding that instils fear and enjoy a powerful positioning in the Tamil TikTok realm.

What is most alarming is the hero worship accorded to nameless amd faceless cowardly individuals like these by youngsters.

The extent of their admiration has resulted in the fans also creating troll accounts with powerful handle names, to create similar content to dox and humiliate targets.

So, in a bizarre twist of digital irony, these fake accounts are often afforded more respect and acknowledgment than legitimate, hardworking voices and deemed heroes as opposed to villains for unleashing coordinated attacks to silence dissenting voices.

Men with criminal records, some who have even served time, are being rebranded as community “heroes” and “defenders” and this glorification of criminality has led to TikTok fights spilling into the streets and becoming frightening confrontations.

These recalcitrants also conduct “TikTok Panchayat Courts” for public trials, judged by a mob with the victims tormented for hours in live-streamed sessions that exude the exercise of raw power.
The main players in these sessions, which can go on for 10 hours sometimes, receive gifts and points from admiring viewers which translates into cash, out of which TikTok gets a very generous cut.

The modus operandi of these trolls is to broadcast victims’ full names, MyKad numbers, home addresses, private contact numbers, and family details.

This is a calculated move designed to humiliate victims and strip away their sense of safety.

The intimidation tactics used in these sessions also include the use of official police reports lodged by the victims covering various matters ranging from domestic disputes and other personal mishaps.

These confidential documents are rightfully protected by law but these TikTok ‘vulture’ are able to obtain it, sometimes within an hour after the reports have been lodged, purportedly from policeman friends.

These confidential information and police reports are used to intimidate and bully accompanied by a boastful claim of weilding unshakable power.

When the very documents, meant to protect victims are used as tools for bullying and doxing, there is something wrong with the system, and this also prevents victims from lodging police reports out of fear.

However, if the authorities such as the police and the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) are serious in wanting to end this culture of bullying and intimidation, they can trace these nasty characters by compelling TikTok to reveal the bank accounts into which the remuneration made in live sessions are channelled into.

The authorities must also realise and acknowledge that there is a serious breakdown of digital safety, where anonymity is being weaponized with the line between online trolling and real-world criminality erased.

So, the onus is now fully on the MCMC and the police to demolish this growing community of Tamil TikTok bullies by initiating appropriate action while holding TikTok accountable.

A platform that allows rogue characters to thrive through fake accounts and coordinated harassment—while failing to protect the personal data of its users—is a platform that is failing its community.

Reader’s Letter: Muriel Kanthaswamy
This is a reader’s letter by Muriel Kanthaswamy. This writing does not necessarily reflect the position of DeKapital.