Social media applications have tons of active users due to various and different reasons.

They
want to express themselves, discuss hobbies and interests, stay updated on current news and events, find
entertainment, fill up spare time, and connect with family and friends, even with strangers. However,
while these platforms have several excellent and beneficial features, they also have pitfalls that go far
beyond privacy and security—and TikTok is not an exemption.
This platform features an unlimited stream of videos, that causes users to spend more time on the
app but though this can be entertaining at first, it can perhaps lead to addiction. Aside from that, TikTok
is a diverse and inclusive community, so even if the app has a strong position against violence, prejudice,
sexual behavior, and suicide, it cannot completely control and restrict it. The discourse community is
becoming a platform for these dangers because, although some users use it to spread positivity, others
misuse it to criticize other people's videos and create offensive, disrespectful, and slanderous content.
Users may also invariably come across potentially triggering content that could promote issues like self-
harm, suicide, and mental health issues. It's also concerning that because there are no restrictions on who
may join the app, some users, including teenagers, participate in outrageous and inappropriate challenges
to obtain likes and followers on TikTok, wherein popularity means money. These are some of the issues
surfacing in the community, but because political controversies are abounding in the light of the
forthcoming presidential elections, my paper will focus on unhealthy and divisive political discourses.
People have been forthright and vocal about their political preferences since the filing of the
Certificate of Candidacy for the 2022 elections. As a result, debates on social media platforms, notably on
TikTok, have ignited over who is the most suitable and worthy of the presidency. However, some are
becoming desperate in insisting their political views that they are sharing misleading information about
political candidates and rewriting history so that the public can feed on their lies. Trolls proliferate on
TikTok, and all they do is share and publish spliced videos, disseminate falsehoods and propaganda, and
hurl nonsensical and illogical arguments for them to use as a weapon and mockery. They adopt these
tactics not just because they don't understand the facts, but because they are unprincipled and crooked.
This is alarming because the lie and distortion they are propagating are deceiving and corrupting other
users that's why when there are arguments on social media applications and an opposing party demands a
source, TikTok is offered, and it is definitely not a reputable one.
The presidential elections are approaching, and it is imperative to counteract this peril since the
future of the nation and its citizens are at risk. While there is the freedom to demonstrate support for
someone, doing so at the expense of spreading disinformation in an effort to glamorize a candidate's
image risks undermining voters’ ability to access credible information, engage in constructive and
substantial discussions, and elect the most qualified and competent presidentiable.
References:
Regalado, P. (2021). Those Marcos Videos on TikTok are Rooted in Decades of Misinformation [Photo].
Reportr. Retrieved from https://www.reportr.world/news/from-books-to-tiktok-why-fake-news-about-
the-marcoses-persists-60-years-later-explainer-a4832-20210921-lfrm
VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Netizens revive MISLEADING video about Marcos wealth, foundation
[Photo]. (2021). Vera Files. Retrieved from https://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-
netizens-revive-misleading-video-about