Málaga tourism: ‘People feel the city is collapsing’

1 September 2024 Share Save Guy Hedgecoe BBC News Reporting from Malaga Share Save

Guy Hedgecoe Kike España says with so many tourists Málaga feels like a theme park

Kike España gazes across Málaga’s Plaza de la Merced. It’s late morning and it’s still a peaceful spot at this time of day – jacaranda trees fill the square, an obelisk monument sits at its centre and on the far side is the house where Pablo Picasso was born. But it’s the city’s tourists, many of whom are already gathering in the host of nearby cafés, who concern Kike. “The situation is so saturated that Málaga has really reached a turning point at which people feel that the city is collapsing,” he says. “It’s the same feeling you have when you enter a theme park,” he adds. “There is a stream of people that are consuming the city and not really inhabiting it.” Kike is an urban planner and a local activist with the Málaga Tenants’ Union, which has been campaigning for a change in how the southern Spanish city manages tourism.

Getty Images One banner carried by protestors in Málaga read “Málaga to live, not to survive”

The organisation led a protest in late June in which thousands of local people took to the streets to voice their concern at the negative impact that tourism is having on their city, including pushing up housing costs, gentrification and crowds. And it’s not just Málaga. Spaniards have been protesting throughout the summer for the same reasons in other major tourist destinations, including Barcelona, Alicante and the Canary and Balearic Islands. In April, a group of activists on Tenerife staged a three-week hunger strike against the building of new tourist megaprojects. In Barcelona, demonstrators fired at foreign visitors with water pistols and among the slogans daubed on their banners were: “Tourism kills the city” and “Tourists go home.” Spain first established itself as a tourist hub more than half a century ago, as northern Europeans started to flock to its coastline and islands. Today, the industry represents about 13% of Spanish GDP and, having bounced back from the Covid-19 pandemic, it is surpassing records in terms of both revenue and arrivals.

Guy Hedgecoe Spain’s coastline has been attracting northern Europeans for more than 50 years

In 2023, the country received 85 million foreign visitors and more than 90 million are expected this year, putting it close behind France, the world’s most popular tourist destination. José Luis Zoreda, president of the Exceltur, a tourism industry association, prefers to talk about the amount of revenue the industry generates – €200bn (£171bn) in direct and indirect activity this year, he estimates – rather than the number of visitors. He also highlights how tourism has ensured that the Spanish economy has outperformed most of its European neighbours in the wake of Covid-19. “We have been responsible in the last few years for the most important percentage of growth of our economy,” he says. “In 2023, we were responsible for 80% of the whole GDP growth of Spain.” So the sheer size of the tourism sector and its strong growth have driven the overall expansion of the Spanish economy. But there is a growing belief that the cost of such success is too high and the wave of recent protests has created the sense of a tipping point. Many Spaniards are now convinced that the towns and cities they inhabit are catering more for visitors than for residents. “Tourism was perceived as a positive economic activity that is a huge part of our GDP, but the numbers have become so huge in terms of international arrivals that we are now seeing the negative impacts, especially in cities,” says Paco Femenia-Serra, lecturer in tourism and geography at Madrid’s Complutense University. “Tourism is competing for space and the number of people out on the streets is unbearable for many residents.”

Guy Hedgecoe Locals say tourism results in small businesses being replaced by chains

Besides making these places less pleasant, locals say tourism has also pushed many smaller businesses out of the centre of cities. In their place have come franchise restaurants, bars and shops – and prices have risen. But the most-cited problem is that of housing. Spain’s biggest tourist destinations have large numbers of short-term rental properties aimed at tourists. A recent study by El País newspaper found that several areas of Málaga had the highest proportion of Airbnb properties in Spain. A quarter of all apartments in the area around the Plaza de la Merced are dedicated to tourist rental. Owners of apartments are able to charge more for short-term rentals than they would charge longer-term tenants and this has the effect of pushing up prices across the board. Locals say it is difficult to find an apartment for less than €1,200-1,300 per month in the centre of Málaga. With the average salary in the surrounding Andalusia region at just €1,600 per month, they are being priced out of their city. “If the people of Málaga don’t have somewhere to live, who will provide services for the tourists?” asked Isabel Rodríguez, housing minister for Spain’s governing Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE). Speaking at a housing forum in the city in July, she continued: “Where will the waiters who serve us a glass of wine and a plate of sardines live?” As Ms Rodríguez’s comments suggest, Spain’s political class is now starting to grapple with the tourism conundrum. Catalonia and the Balearic Islands have already introduced a “tourist tax”, charging a sliding sum of up to €4 per person per day, depending on the type of accommodation used. Palma de Mallorca has sought to limit numbers of arrivals by sea, with no more than three cruise liners allowed to dock at the city per day, only one of them carrying more than 5,000 passengers.

Guy Hedgecoe Spain expects to receive more than 90 million foreign visitors this year

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia expressed on Sunday its “great concern” following US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, according to a statement by the foreign ministry on X.

The Saudi ministry statement “affirmed its condemnation and denunciation of violating the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, expressing the need to exert all efforts to exercise restraint, de-escalate, and avoid escalation.”

The Kingdom also called on the international community to boost efforts in such “highly sensitive circumstances” to reach a political solution to end the crisis.

#Statement | The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is following with deep concern the developments in the Islamic Republic of Iran, particularly the targeting of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States of America. pic.twitter.com/UETTccSNgc — Foreign Ministry (@KSAmofaEN) June 22, 2025

UAE

The United Arab Emirates urged on Sunday an immediate halt to escalation to “avoid serious repercussions” in the region following strikes by the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

It warned that such actions could lead the region to “new levels of instability,” according to a statement from the foreign ministry.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed held phone calls with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as well as the leaders of Kuwait and Qatar to discuss the latest developments following the attacks on Iran.

The conversations focused on the need to de-escalate tensions and restore regional stability, with all sides urging restraint and a return to dialogue and diplomacy, Emirates News Agency reported.

Egypt

Egypt has expressed deep concern over the recent developments in Iran, warning of the risks posed by a rapidly escalating situation that could threaten the security and stability of the entire region.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Egypt said the ongoing escalation could have serious consequences for both regional and international peace.

The statement stressed the importance of respecting the sovereignty of states and adhering to the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.

Egypt called on all concerned parties to exercise restraint, prioritize dialogue, and pursue peaceful solutions, emphasizing that resorting to military options would only lead to greater instability.

Qatar

Qatar, host of the biggest US military base in the Middle East, on Sunday said it feared serious repercussions after US air strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran.

The foreign ministry “warns that the current dangerous escalation in the region may lead to catastrophic consequences at both the regional and international levels”, a statement said.

“It calls on all parties to exercise wisdom, restraint, and to avoid further escalation.”

Statement | Qatar Regrets the Deterioration of the Situation with the Strikes on Iranian Nuclear Facilities#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/U0oXEIKjP3 — Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) June 22, 2025

Oman

Oman, which was mediating nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran, on Sunday strongly condemned US strikes on nuclear sites in Iran.

The Gulf sultanate “expresses deep concern, denunciation and condemnation of the escalation resulting from the direct air strikes launched by the United States on sites in the Islamic Republic of Iran”, the official Oman News Agency said.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry expressed deep concern and condemnation regarding the escalation resulting from the direct airstrikes conducted by the United States on sites in the Islamic Republic of Iran. pic.twitter.com/vXBy9nMpqV — وزارة الخارجية (@FMofOman) June 22, 2025

Lebanon

Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, in statement released by the Lebanese Presidency on X, meanwhile said: “Lebanon, its leadership, parties, and people, are aware today, more than ever before, that it has paid a heavy price for the wars that erupted on its land and in the region. It is unwilling to pay more, and there is no national interest in doing so, especially since the cost of these wars was and will be greater than its ability to bear.”

“The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities raises fears of an escalation of tensions that could threaten security and stability in more than one region and country.

“The President of the Republic calls for restraint and the launch of constructive and serious negotiations to restore stability to the countries of the region and avoid further killing and destruction,” the statement added.

Iraq

Iraq warned on Sunday that the US attacks on its neighbor Iran’s nuclear facilities threaten peace and stability in the Middle East.

Iraq “expresses its deep concern and strong condemnation of the targeting of nuclear facilities” in Iran, government spokesperson Basim Alawadi said. “This military escalation constitutes a grave threat to peace and security in the Middle East and poses serious risks to regional stability,” he added.

UN

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres meanwhile slammed US President Donald Trump’s decision to order US military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities as a “dangerous escalation.”

“I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today. This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security,” he said in a statement.

“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world,” he said.

READ: Transcript of Trump’s speech on US strikes on Iran

Guterres called on member states to de-escalate and to uphold their obligations under the UN Charter and other rules of international law.

“At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos. There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy. The only hope is peace,” he said.

The president of the UN General Assembly, Philemon Yang, also issued a statement, saying he was “deeply alarmed” by the attacks.

“I reiterate that we cannot afford further military escalation in the Middle East. I call on all parties to engage in diplomacy and pursue dialogue in order to settle any disputes in accordance with the UN Charter and international law,” he said.

“Military might does not bring durable peace, dialogue does. The people in the Middle East need peace and not more wars,” he added.

Other countries began reacting Sunday with calls for diplomacy and words of caution:

Turkiye

Turkiye warned Sunday the US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities risked escalating the Iran-Israel conflict to a global level that could have “catastrophic” consequences.

“The ongoing developments could cause the regional conflict to escalate to a global level. We do not want this catastrophic scenario to come to life,” the foreign ministry indicating Turkiye was “deeply concerned about the possible consequences.”

India

India’s prime minister Narendra Modi said on X that spoke with Irans President Masoud Pezeshkian: “We discussed in detail about the current situation.

“Expressed deep concern at the recent escalations. Reiterated our call for immediate de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward and for early restoration of regional peace, security and stability.”

Spoke with President of Iran @drpezeshkian. We discussed in detail about the current situation. Expressed deep concern at the recent escalations. Reiterated our call for immediate de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward and for early restoration of regional… — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 22, 2025

Pakistan

Pakistan, in a statement, said it “condemns the US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities which follow the series of attacks by Israel. We are gravely concerned at the possible further escalation of tensions in the region.”

“We reiterate that these attacks violate all norms of international law and that Iran has the legitimate right to defend itself under the UN Charter.

PR No. Pakistan Condemns the US Attacks on the Nuclear Facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran. https://t.co/2qpo27WzVQ pic.twitter.com/ugtFomQ5HO — Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) June 22, 2025

“The unprecedented escalation of tension and violence, owing to ongoing aggression against Iran is deeply disturbing. Any further escalation of tensions will have severely damaging implications for the region and beyond.”

Russia

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said on Sunday that US President Donald Trump had started a new war for the US by attacking Iran.

“Trump, who came in as a peacemaker president, has started a new war for the US,” Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel.

UK

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Iran to “return to the negotiating table” over its nuclear ambitions after the US carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

“Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat,” Starmer said on X, adding that “stability in the region is a priority”.

“We call on Iran to return to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis.”

France

French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Sunday that France had “taken note with concern of the strikes carried out last night by the United States of America against three sites in Iran’s nuclear program.”

He also said that France was neither involved in these strikes nor in their planning.

“We urge the parties to exercise restraint in order to avoid any escalation that could lead to an extension of the conflict,” the statement said.

“In this context, our priority is to ensure the safety of our agents and nationals, as well as that of our interests and partners in the region,” it added.

France has repeatedly expressed its firm opposition to Iran gaining access to nuclear weapons.

“France is convinced that a lasting solution to this issue requires a negotiated solution within the framework of the Treaty of Non-Proliferation. We remain ready to contribute to this in conjunction with our partners,” the statement said.

“France has taken due note of the statement by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which confirms at this stage that no high level of radiation has been detected.”

European Union

The European Union’s top diplomat said Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon but she urged those involved in the conflict to show restraint.

“I urge all sides to step back, return to the negotiating table and prevent further escalation,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a post on social media.

Kallas will chair a meeting of the 27-nation bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, with the Israel-Iran war high on the agenda.

New Zealand

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters urged “all parties to return to talks.”

He wouldn’t tell reporters Sunday whether New Zealand supported President Trump’s actions, saying they had only just happened.

The three-time foreign minister said the crisis is “the most serious I’ve ever dealt with” and that “critical further escalation is avoided.”

“Diplomacy will deliver a more enduring resolution than further military action,” he said.

Italy

Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani, on state broadcaster RAI, said: “Now we hope that, after this attack, which caused massive damage to nuclear weapons production and posed a threat to the entire region, a de-escalation can begin and Iran can sit down at the negotiating table.”

China

A flash commentary from China’s government-run media asked whether the US is repeating “its Iraq mistake in Iran.”

The online piece by CGTN, the foreign-language arm of the state broadcaster, said the US strikes mark a dangerous turning point.

“History has repeatedly shown that military interventions in the Middle East often produce unintended consequences, including prolonged conflicts and regional destabilization,” it said, citing the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.

It said a measured, diplomatic approach that prioritizes dialogue over military confrontation offers the best hope for stability in the Middle East.

Japan

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters Sunday it was crucial to calm the situation as soon as possible, adding that the Iranian nuclear weapons development also must be prevented.

Ishiba, asked if he supports the US attacks on Iran, declined to comment. He was speaking to reporters after an emergency meeting with officials from key ministries over the US military action.

Ishiba said officials are still assessing details and doing their utmost to protect the safety of the Japanese nationals in Iran, Israel and elsewhere in the region.

While the US attacks on Iran do not affect Japan’s stable energy supply for the time being, Ishiba said, he has instructed officials to “watch the development with a sense of urgency and take every precaution” to prevent an increase in oil and utility costs ahead of the summer when energy demand rises.

South Korea

South Korea’s presidential office said it would hold an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss the security and economic ramifications of the US strikes and potential South Korean responses.

Australia

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that Canberra supported the US strike on Iran and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.

“The world has long agreed that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon and we support action to prevent that,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra.

He said “the information has been clear” that Iran had enriched uranium to 60 percent and “there is no other explanation for it to reach 60, other than engaging in a program that wasn’t about civilian nuclear power.”

“Had Iran complied wth the very reasonable requests that were made, including by the IAEA, then circumstances would have been different,” said Albanese, referring to limitations on enrichment.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong made a similar call for for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy in a series of television and radio interviews later.

There are around 2,900 Australians in Iran and 1,300 in Iraq who are seeking to leave.

Australia closed its embassy in Tehran on Friday, after Wong spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Australia has suspended bus evacuations from Israel after the US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, but is making preparations for potential evacuations if air space in Israel re-opens, Wong said.

High praises for Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was predictably all praises for Trump’s decision.

“Your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities, with the awesome and righteous might of the United States, will change history,” he said in a video message directed at the American president.

Netanyahu said the US “has done what no other country on earth could do.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon also thanked Trump for his “historic decision to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Today, President Trump proved that ‘Never Again’ is not just a slogan — it’s a policy.”

In Washington, Congressional Republicans — and at least one Democrat — immediately praised Trump after he announced his fateful attack order.

“Well done, President Trump,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina posted on X. Texas Sen. John Cornyn called it a “courageous and correct decision.” Alabama Sen. Katie Britt called the bombings “strong and surgical.”

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin posted: “America first, always.”

Good. This was the right call. The regime deserves it.

Well done, President @realDonaldTrump. To my fellow citizens: We have the best Air Force in the world. It makes me so proud. Fly, Fight, Win. https://t.co/1FFmN31LPY — Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 22, 2025

The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said Trump “has made a deliberate — and correct — decision to eliminate the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime.”

Wicker posted on X that “we now have very serious choices ahead to provide security for our citizens and our allies.”

The quick endorsements of stepped up US involvement in Iran came after Trump had publicly mulled the strikes for days and many congressional Republicans had cautiously said they thought he would make the right decision. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Saturday evening that “as we take action tonight to ensure a nuclear weapon remains out of reach for Iran, I stand with President Trump and pray for the American troops and personnel in harm’s way.”

Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, were briefed ahead of the strikes on Saturday, according to people familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it.

Johnson said in a statement that the military operations “should serve as a clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says.”

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Arkansas, said he had also been in touch with the White House and “I am grateful to the US servicemembers who carried out these precise and successful strikes.”

Breaking from many of his Democratic colleagues, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, an outspoken supporter of Israel, also praised the attacks on Iran. “As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS,” he posted. “Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities.”

Both parties have seen splits in recent days over the prospect of striking Iran. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican and a longtime opponent of US involvement in foreign wars, posted on X after Trump announced the attacks that “This is not Constitutional.”

Many Democrats have maintained that Congress should have a say. The Senate was scheduled to vote as soon as this week on a resolution by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine requiring congressional approval before the US declared war on Iran or took specific military action.

Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House intelligence panel, posted on X after Trump’s announcement: “According to the Constitution we are both sworn to defend, my attention to this matter comes BEFORE bombs fall. Full stop.”

Gadi Cohen’s mother is his go-to for news on his family in Israel. She lives in Arlington but keeps tabs on what’s happening in the conflict between Israel, Iran, and now, the United States.

“My mom checks with them daily basis,” Gadi Cohen. “And I call my mom and say, ‘how’s everybody, and everything.'”

He and his wife are reluctant to bring unnecessary attention to their business, Milk & Honey Jerusalem Market and Grill.

“Personally, a very small part is worried about what’s going to happen over here,” Amy Cohen said. “We’re more worried about what’s happening over there.”

The 58-year-old said her husband, Gadi, talks to his mother multiple times daily, and they are all watching the news. So far, their family has not been injured, but watching the conflict is difficult.

“A lot of times we have the news playing all day, whether that’s calming or more anxiety-inducing, I’m not sure,” Amy Cohen said.

It’s the same feeling for Iranians in North Texas who are watching two countries take on their native government. Homeira Hesami is the chairwoman of the Iranian-American Community of North Texas.

Hesami and her members said the nuclear conversation in her country has been going on for 20 years.

“Unfortunately, you know, the Western countries, collectively, they fail to do their job and stop the regime. And that’s where we are right now,” Hesami said.

Hesmai is watching her people struggle through a battle with two separate countries. While it hurts, she said it’s necessary to remove the current regime.

“So, it’s unfortunate, but a nuclear Iran is very dangerous. It’s dangerous to its own people, it’s dangerous to the region, and it’s dangerous to the world,” Hesami said.

An ongoing conflict could take its toll on the Cohen’s business and customers.

“Because our products come from Israel. So if there’s more warfare going on, more missiles, more destruction, is that going to affect our supply?” Amy Cohen said. “Will we be able to give customers a little taste of home?”

The couple said they remain customer-focused. Trying not to let their anxiety or worries rub off, no matter who walks in the door.

“We don’t ask people their nationality or religious preferences or political views,” Amy Cohen said. “We just ask, what would you like? Would you like a falafel?”

What dies with TikTok? As a ban looms, Americans face a cultural void

17 January 2025 Share Save Aidan Walker Share Save

Emmanuel Lafont

With an American TikTok ban threatening the app, users and creators reflect on what it did for internet culture – and what their online worlds might look like without it.

It’s possible TikTok made more people famous than any other company in history. It also sparked controversy in nearly every market it entered. India banned TikTok in 2020, and the app has been facing the same treatment in the US.

A law that will effectively ban TikTok in the US is set to go into effect on Sunday 19 January, after a failed bid to save it in the Supreme Court. But in TikTok’s final days, the Biden administration reportedly said it will defer enforcement of the law to President-elect Donald Trump, who’s also signalled a willingness to save the app ­– even though both men previously fought for the ban.

The involvement of both an outgoing and incoming US President is an extraordinary signal of just how much is at stake. The law that bans the social media platform in the US unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance divests from the app was passed by Congress on the grounds of national security. Lawmakers voiced concerns that data from the app could be collected by the Chinese Communist Party, or that the platform might be used to spread propaganda. TikTok denies that it would ever allow the Chinese government to collect user data or influence content on the app. The company tried and failed to defeat the law in court over First Amendment claims.

It leaves TikTok’s fate uncertain in an era when online culture has been defined by the app’s success.

Getty Images The law to ban TikTok in the US has sparked such strong reactions that some traveled to Washington to protest (Credit: Getty Images)

With the guillotine hovering over TikTok’s neck, users are bracing for a cultural void. For all the criticisms levied at the app, many say TikTok created a system that made them feel nurtured and uniquely empowered. Some users worry they could lose their home on the internet, one they fear other apps like Instagram and YouTube can’t or won’t replace.

No platform in recent memory has had a story or impact quite like TikTok’s. The app was at the centre of ferocious political debates. It ruined many nights of sleep with its seductive and sometimes vapid doom scroll. TikTok increasingly sucked news, entertainment and social life into the vortex of its powerful but fickle algorithm. But it also fuelled thousands of small businesses – TikTok says more than seven million businesses use TikTok and that it helped to drive $15bn (£12bn) in revenue for these US businesses in 2023.

TikTok filled billions of idle hours with entertaining, informative content. It offered opportunities to activists and artists at a moment of increasing uncertainty. In just a few years, TikTok rewrote the playbook for social media companies and changed countless lives.

A third of US adults and the majority of teenagers are on TikTok, and globally, the app has been downloaded nearly five billion times. According to an analysis by Know Your Meme, more of the internet memes gathered by its encyclopaedia came from TikTok, starting in 2022, than anywhere else. Without a doubt, TikTok is the hub for online culture.

“I really don’t like the app if I’m being honest,” says Adam Aleksic, a creator based in New York with over half a million followers on TikTok. “But I also love it at the same time. It’s giving me my living. I would probably be in law school right now if it wasn’t for TikTok”.

It remains to be seen whether or how the US TikTok ban will be implemented. Officials from the Biden administration – which championed the ban and battled to defend it in the courts just this week – reportedly said American’s shouldn’t expect the app to go dark this weekend. The incoming Trump administration has also said it’s looking for ways to save the app. But the possibility of TikTok’s demise in the US has led users and creators to contemplate moving to other platforms, whether established ones in the American market like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, or newcomers like Red Note, another Chinese social media platform. But many say it’s unlikely other outlets can recreate what TikTok was.

‘Collective effervescence’

The TikTok users know today originated in 2018, but it didn’t rise to dominance until quarantines during the Covid-19 pandemic moved life online in the spring of 2020. The first generation of TikTok stars earned fame by posting from the bedrooms where they spent lock down. At the same moment, in April 2020, ByteDance released CapCut, an app that offered a free and easy-to-use smartphone interface for editing videos, splicing audio, and creating special effects. CapCut democratised video editing, allowing more users to experiment with new ideas and post their work on TikTok. ByteDance reaped the rewards of the content users made and the eyeballs they attracted.

“It was a moment of collective effervescence,” says Robert B, an American creator with over a quarter million followers who started making TikTok videos during the 2020 lockdown. Robert, who asked to withhold his full name to protect his online identity, posts educational content about medieval music. He was initially drawn to TikTok because it offered the chance to make music with others when he couldn’t be in-person with them.

Having already experimented with other tools for splicing voices and instruments together, he found that TikTok “was just so quick and easy” by comparison. Features like stitches and duets, where users can reply and riff on each other’s videos, allowed music and dance to come to life during the pandemic. “I was able to feel a connection with those people,” Robert says. “Even though they didn’t know me and sometimes they saw it, sometimes they didn’t.”

Getty Images TikTok inspired a both a style of content and a form of connection users say is hard to come by on other parts of the web (Credit: Getty Images)

For Aleksic, a linguist who creates content studying the development of language online, features like stitches, duets and hyperlinks in comments help to make the app a hotbed of linguistic innovation. “TikTok is designed for people to respond to each other. It’s really distinguished by its collaborative atmosphere,” he says. “TikTok is where things are happening.”

Part of TikTok’s collaborative atmosphere might also come from its outsider status. By and large, younger Americans users grew up with Google and Meta products due to those companies’ long tenure and market dominance in the US. TikTok emerged in the US market as something new and innovative. TikTok’s short-form video, a term most had never heard until the app’s explosion in 2020, was so successful that it’s come to define the modern internet, forcing everything from Instagram to LinkedIn to copy the feature.

Even if you aren’t a part of TikTok, you’re immersed in its culture. The app’s content is so often reposted and reinterpreted on other platforms that it’s become the gravitational centre of the web. A common refrain among users is that watching Instagram Reels is like “scrolling TikTok on a two-week delay”. Reposts of older TikToks also fuel discourse and political commentary on X, most famously through the conservative account LibsofTikTok.

All about the algo

The most feared and famous part of TikTok is its algorithm. TikTok distinguished itself not just through editing tools and unique features, but through its ability to “silver-platter-style deliver the content from creators we are most compelled to interact with”, as user Alexx Johnson of Texas puts it.

Certainly, researchers at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, found that TikTok users experience greater levels of “flow” – where someone is totally absorbed in a task – and time distortion than those using Instagram. But Instagram was found to be more personal in nature, with people sharing posts with a more intimate circle than on TikTok.

The TikTok algorithm tends to prioritise the discovery of new content, exposing users to new videos to a degree that other platforms simply aren’t, at least for now. Where YouTube and Instagram often seem to focus on serving videos by already-famous creators to already-subscribed fans, TikTok focuses on promoting new content, often from upstart creators and casual users. Meta and Google, which owns YouTube, did not respond to requests for comment.

“TikTok’s algorithm seems to be a lot more generous”, says Kay Perron, a content creator based in the Michigan, US who makes left-leaning news and political commentary.

For creators and users who post and view on other platforms, the difference is clear. Many have noted that TikTok spawned and fewer extremely-famous ones than platforms like YouTube or Instagram. “I don’t think any other platform gives your normal, average American the ability to get so many people viewing and engaging with your content,” says Perron. “It’s crazy how you can post something and 30 seconds later, you’ve got somebody from the UK or Ireland that has just viewed it and is commenting.”

It’s not about content. It’s about the ideas. I’m using content as a means for the end of communicating something important – Adam Aleksic

For many creators and users, it’s that “generosity” of TikTok’s algorithm which keeps them engaged. “TikTok’s algorithmic infrastructure levelled the playing field, it’s not the same sanitised Instagram Explore grid or most prominent YouTube creators”, says Jess Rauchberg, a professor at the University of Seton Hill in New Jersey, US who studies the creator economy.

But while TikTok may help creators gain exposure and users engage with the causes they care about, many see evidence of censorship on the platform. Users get no direct insight into TikTok’s algorithm. Still, so many have noted the app’s apparent tendency to suppress certain words and topics that an entirely new way of speaking emerged on TikTok. A prime example of this “algospeak” is using the word “unalive”, due to a belief that the algorithm will bury videos that use the word “die”. Aleksic, whose upcoming book Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language deals with this phenomenon, says algospeak is a way of skirting or anticipating censorship, which the majority of TikTok users seem to understand as par for the course. Algospeak can also be a way of signalling solidarity.

“For many disabled creators, the community they’ve built on TikTok is worth navigating platform bias,” says Jess Rauchberg, who specialises in the use of social media by disabled and marginalised creators. Like many social media platforms, TikTok has struggled with the spread of hate speech and misinformation, though some observers say recent policy changes at other companies could worsen the problem elsewhere online. Meta, for example, recently announced changes to its own content moderation rules that campaigners say could encourage hate speech.

Getty Images Despite the serious criticisms levied at the app, many users say TikTok offered a kind of agency that’s hard to come by on major social media platforms (Credit: Getty Images)

Researchers often use the term “black boxes” to describe social media algorithms. Not only are algorithms like TikTok’s closely-guarded corporate secrets, they’re also impenetrably complicated, coordinating hundreds of billions of interactions per day. They work at such a massive scale that even the people running the algorithms often can’t even begin to explain how they make any individual decision.

Due to the app’s massive scale, it often feels like every niche and demographic is represented among the 170 million Americans who, according to TikTok, use it for an average of 51 minutes a day. Perron, 59, says one of her favourite parts of the app is the ability to connect with younger generations and learn about what they’re watching, feeling and thinking about. “Another social media algorithm might keep somebody consuming content within their age group. TikTok brings us all together and generates more of an appreciation for each other”, says Perron.

Robert, 39, agrees. “TikTok is the only thing that feels explicitly catered to a younger demographic that I still understand.”

Controlling the narrative

In an age where traditional media institutions are increasingly unable to attract audiences and make money, TikTok’s algorithm – with its tailor-made recommendations and addictive quality – has often outcompeted other narrators of public life. It has been able to provide content that is cheaper to make, more entertaining, and less constrained by traditional norms and gatekeeping practices. Getting news from social media, for the one-in-five Americans who do so, means hearing about the world from friendly people whose political views often align with their own, rather than institutions such as newspapers that speak in a way that is more official and less intimate. Some even believe this discrepancy is an unspoken motivation behind the ban. “It’s harder to control the American media narrative if TikTok exists,” Aleksic says.

The consequences of the shift of power to mass audiences, algorithms and short-form video platforms are discomforting even to many of the people who spend their days on them and devote their careers to doing work through social media.

From one perspective, TikTok is a major gig economy employer in the US and in other countries, just like Uber or Doordash. Viewed from another perspective, TikTok is a crucial piece of social infrastructure, empowering regular people to distribute news, media and information to the public.

To many in the national security space, that makes TikTok too important to allow its foreign ownership. Debates about TikTok’s connection to China – which were spearheaded by President-elect Trump, who’s since switched positions on the subject – originally centred around data, the idea that China could use the app to siphon information about Americans. Since then, privacy experts have noted that American apps including Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube have exposed their user data to identical risks through partnerships with Chinese advertising companies. Many also point out that if the Chinese government wanted American user data, it could buy that information from one of the thousands of data brokers that sell it in an almost entirely unregulated market. In the years since TikTok became a target for American politicians, conversations have largely shifted towards the idea the China might use the app to sew discord and spread propaganda.

But while the ban bill cites national security concerns and places TikTok in a broader geopolitical context, the platform exists in an intimate context for many Americans. It is a place to enjoy art, seek advice, hear the news, talk to friends and explore the world. Many users and creators have found not just an audience and income on TikTok, but something more important. “It’s not about content. It’s about the ideas,” says Aleksic. “I’m using content as a means for the end of communicating something important.”

If TikTok does go dark in the US, its users will still have something to say. The question is where they will say it.

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The harmful ableist language you unknowingly use

5 April 2021 Share Save Sara Nović Features correspondent Share Save

Alamy

Some of our most common, ingrained expressions have damaging effects on millions of people – and many of us don’t know we’re hurting others when we speak.

As we head into 2022, Worklife is running our best, most insightful and most essential stories from 2021. When you’re done with this article, check out our full list of the year’s top stories.

I like being deaf. I like the silence as well as the rich culture and language deafness affords me. When I see the word ‘deaf’ on the page, it evokes a feeling of pride for my community, and calls to me as if I’m being addressed directly, as if it were my name.

So, it always stings when I’m reminded that for many, the word ‘deaf’ has little to do with what I love most – in fact, its connotations are almost exclusively negative. For example, in headlines across the world – Nevada’s proposed gun safety laws, pleas from Ontario’s elderly and weather safety warnings in Queensland – have all “fallen on deaf ears”.

This kind of ‘ableist’ language is omnipresent in conversation: making a “dumb” choice, turning a “blind eye” to a problem, acting “crazy”, calling a boss “psychopathic”, having a “bipolar” day. And, for the most part, people who utter these phrases aren’t intending to hurt anyone – more commonly, they don’t have any idea they’re engaging in anything hurtful at all.

However, for disabled people like me, these common words can be micro-assaults. For instance, “falling on deaf ears” provides evidence that most people associate deafness with wilful ignorance (even if they consciously may not). But much more than individual slights, expressions like these can do real, lasting harm to the people whom these words and phrases undermine – and even the people who use them in daily conversation, too.

Not a small problem

Despite these numbers, disabled people experience widespread discrimination at nearly every level of society. This phenomenon, known as ‘ableism’ – discrimination based on disability – can take on various forms. Personal ableism might look like name-calling, or committing violence against a disabled person, while systemic ableism refers to the inequity disabled people experience as a result of laws and policy.

Sara Nović Sara Nović discusses writing with students at the Rocky Mountain Deaf School in Colorado, US (Credit: Sara Nović)

But ableism can also be indirect, even unintentional, in the form of linguistic micro-aggressions. As much as we all like to think we’re careful with the words we choose, ableist language is a pervasive part of our lexicon. Examples in pop culture are everywhere, and you’ve almost certainly used it yourself.

Frequently, ableist language (known to some as ‘disableist’ language) crops up in the slang we use, like calling something “dumb” or “lame”, or making a declaration like, “I’m so OCD!”. Though these might feel like casual slights or exclamations, they still do damage.

Jamie Hale, the London-based CEO of Pathfinders Neuromuscular Alliance, a UK charity run for and by people with neuromuscular conditions, notes that the potential for harm exists even if the words are not used against a disabled person specifically. “There’s a sense when people use disableist language, that they are seeing ways of being as lesser,” says Hale. “It is often not a conscious attempt to harm disabled people, but it acts to construct a world-view in which existing as a disabled person is [negative].”

Using language that equates disability to something negative can be problematic in several ways.

First, these words give an inaccurate picture of what being disabled actually means. “To describe someone as ‘crippled by’ something is to say that they are ‘limited’ [or] ‘trapped’, perhaps,” says Hale. “But those aren’t how I experience my being.”

Disability as metaphor is also an imprecise way to say of saying what we really mean. The phrase ‘fall on deaf ears’, for example, both perpetuates stereotypes and simultaneously obscures the reality of the situation it describes. Being deaf is an involuntary state, whereas hearing people who let pleas ‘fall on deaf ears’ are making a conscious choice to ignore those requests. Labelling them ‘deaf’ frames them as passive, rather than people actively responsible for their own decisions.

Ableist language crops up in the slang we use, like calling something “dumb” or “lame”, or making a declaration like, “I’m so OCD!”

Hale adds that using disability as a shorthand for something negative or inferior reinforces negative attitudes and actions, and fuels the larger systems of oppression in place. “We build a world with the language we use, and for as long as we’re comfortable using this language, we continue to build and reinforce disableist structures,” they say.

Say what?

If ableist language is so harmful, why is it so common? Why might someone who would never purposefully insult a disabled person outright still find ableist expressions among their own vocabulary?

Ableist language as colloquialism functions like any other slang term: people repeat it because they’ve heard others say it, a mimicry that on its face suggests use is undiscerning. However, according to University of Louisville linguistics professor DW Maurer, while anyone can create slang term, the expression will only “gain currency according to the unanimity of attitude within the group”. This suggests ableist slang is ubiquitous because, on some level, the speakers believe it to be true.

It’s possible for individuals to be truly unconscious of these biases within themselves, and unaware of the ableism couched in their own everyday sayings. But the fact is, discussions about the negative effect of a word such as “dumb” – a term originally denoting a deaf person who did not use speech, but which now functions as slang for something brutish, uninteresting or of low intelligence – have been happening in deaf and disabled circles for centuries.

According to Rosa Lee Timm, the Maryland, US-based chief marketing officer of non-profit organisation Communication Service for the Deaf, these conversations have remained largely unexamined by the mainstream because non-disabled people believe that ableism doesn’t affect them, and ableist language perpetuates and justifies that belief.

“Ableist language encourages a culture of separation. It defines, excludes and marginalises people,” says Timm. She adds that this allows non-disabled people to be bystanders in the face of ableist culture infrastructure at large.

A boomerang effect

Although these words and phrases are obviously harmful to the groups they marginalise, non-disabled people who casually use ableist language may be negatively impacting themselves, too.

“What happens to this group of hearing, non-disabled people later in life – be it hearing loss, an accident, a health issue, aging or any number of things – when they transition to the disabled community?” says Timm. “The ableist language they used has created an oppressive environment.”

Alamy One of the most effective ways to move away from ableist language is understanding the disabled community, having conversations and listening to their concerns (Credit: Alamy)

Timm notes this ‘environment’ includes an impact on their own self-worth. “Beauty standards are a good comparison, in terms of language’s psychological power,” she says. “As a parent, if I say, ‘wow, that’s beautiful’ or ‘that’s ugly’, my children see that and internalise it… This can have a profound impact, particularly if they examine themselves and feel like they don’t match the standard… The same goes for ability.”

Hale seconds the idea that nondisabled people who experience disability later in life will be harmed by the rhetoric they use today. They also note that the divisive nature of ableist language can even have a negative impact on people who will never experience disability.

“It hurts all of us when we de-humanise ways of being, and construct them wholly in the negative,” they say.

Dismantling ableist structures

Given how ingrained ableism is in our society, rooting it out may seem an overwhelming task. Being aware of the words you use each day is a necessary step in the process. “Dismantling disableist structures doesn’t start with language, but building a world without them requires that we change our language,” says Hale.

Examining your own go-to phrases and attempting to replace them with less problematic synonyms is a good start. “Think about what you mean. Don’t just repeat a phrase because you’ve heard it, think about what you’re trying to convey,” says Hale.

Often avoiding ableist euphemisms just means choosing more straightforward and literal language – rather than “fall on deaf ears”, one might say “ignoring” or “choosing not to engage”.

Language is ever-changing, so eliminating ableism from your vocabulary will be an ongoing process rather than a static victory. You may stumble, but checking in with disabled people is an effective way to find your footing and continuing to build a more inclusive vocabulary. “My advice is always to listen,” says Timm. “Ask questions, avoid assumptions, and start by listening to the people who are impacted the most. Think about whether your own word choice is contributing to their oppression.”