TikTok under fire for allowing user “hunting down” non-binary people to keep account

Lawrence Scotti
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TikTokers were outraged when a user claiming to “hunt” people who identify as non-binary was not banned from the platform after their video was taken down.

TikTok is known to cause bizarre videos to go viral from time to time.

Typically, these abnormal TikToks are harmless trends, like egg-peeling and hot sauce dancing, which offer up a good laugh.

This time, though, a video gained traction over a user’s supposed plan to “hunt” people, disturbing many on the video-sharing platform.

TikTok logo on a dark background
TikTok is often viewed as a successor to Vine because of its variety of content.

TikTok users outraged

User ‘steelewalker421live’ had a video taken down by TikTok, in which they planned to “snipe hunt” non-binary people.

In the strange video, Steele walks around a Motel 6 and says, “We’re gonna get all the non-binaries picked up in the back of my truck and we’re going to take them to a hospital.”

He then harasses a number of workers and explains to one: “If you have any non-binaries here, I’m shutting this motherf**ker down.”

Steele has explained in a follow-up video that a “snipe hunt” is a practical joke, and that his stunt wasn’t supposed to be taken seriously.

Clearly, whatever joke he was attempting didn’t land, as tons of people on social media were shocked by his bizarre behavior.

One user said, “You don’t go ‘HUNTING’ for other human beings.”

Another user genuinely couldn’t believe the video was real and said, “Is this satire?

Despite the outrage and the removed post, Steele hasn’t been banned entirely from the platform and continues to post videos to his account.

About The Author

Lawrence is a former Dexerto writer, based in New York City, who covered entertainment and games for Dexerto focusing on Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, NBA 2K, and any indie game he can review.