#Informative Doc Digs Into The Popularity And Problems Of The Viral Sensation [Sundance 2022]

With technology becoming an integral part of everyone’s lives, it’s important to know as much as possible about the social media platforms that we trust with some of our most personal details and experiences. When it comes to TikTok, there’s much more bubbling beneath the surface of this video app that continues to make history. 

Director Shalini Kantayya begins by keying the audience into exactly why TikTok has become such a hit. Beginning with profiles of famed TikTok creators, or “digital natives” like the beatboxing Spencer X, human rights activist Feroza Aziz, and the politically inclined influencer Deja Foxx, the film lays out the broad spectrum of content and appeal that TikTok has while delving into the origins of the app in China. It’s simultaneously informative, thoughtful, and captivating, making it easy to see why TikTok has surpassed so many previously popular social media outlets.

But “TikTok Boom” isn’t just about celebrating the success and innovation of this continually fast-spreading app created by ByteDance. With a cavalcade of journalists, tech experts, news reports, and prominent TikTok creators, the documentary digs deep into some of the headline-making issues that have made TikTok even more prominent and relevant across the sociopolitical, economic, and cultural spectrum. 

Remember how former President Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok in 2020 leading up to the presidential election? This documentary dives into the reason behind the near-death sentence, highlighting the security issues that have been raised by the government. Furthermore, because the app is based in China, where censorship in the media runs rampant, there have been concerns raised with regards to certain kinds of content being blocked or flagged as inappropriate. TikTok was also secretly limiting the visibility of certain minorities, creating plenty of racial bias within the app’s algorithm, though it claimed it was to avoid online bullying. Since filmmaker Shalini Kantayya previously dug into the racial bias that plagued facial recognition and the algorithms based on it in her film “Coded Bias,” you couldn’t ask for a better person to take on TikTok’s many concerns in the tech world.