tempus fugit

March 11 | 2020

someone: you’re stupid

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which may cause illness in animals or humans.  In humans, several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The most recently discovered coronavirus causes coronavirus disease COVID-19.

COVID-19 is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways, caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.

Researchers at a Chinese university identified two separate strains of the COVID-19 coronavirus, finding that 70% of cases were the more aggressive type, while the less aggressive type comprised the other 30%. That more aggressive strain was found in early cases from Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus is thought to have originated from, and the researchers believe it may have evolved from the less aggressive type. 

tiktok moderation guidelines were leaked a few days ago and it was exposed that moderators were told to filter out (on the “for you” page) fat ppl, super skinny ppl, ppl w facial deformities, ugly ppl, ppl with dwarfism, elderly people, people with visible physical or mental disabilities, ppl with shabby clothes or living situations (”poor” ppl), “controversial” people (lgbt), or content supporting the “uglification” of history (large protests, criticisms of political figures, political movements, etc). 

they claimed it was to stop bullying, but they later admitted it was to “beautify” their platform because ugly people won’t draw in new users, and that the guidelines were no longer in use. but there is evidence showing that the guidelines were still in place in December of 2019, so I seriously doubt they actually changed anything, and even if they did, the fact that those guidelines were in place at all is telling enough. 

they allow tweens to dance almost-naked on camera on a platform with a large adult userbase and videos of animal abuse to be on the For You page but being ugly is a step too far?? are you kidding me?? tiktok even had an “ugly” filter for a while which directly made fun of people who looked a certain way. and they claim their moderation guidelines were an attempt to stop bullying?

anyway. I’m surprised nobody is talking about it so I’m pulling an “old man yells at cloud” abt it