As calls for a ban on TikTok gather speed, one highly placed Jamaican cyber forensics expert is insisting that the “practice of oversharing, and not the platform” is the real culprit while pointing out that criminals in other jurisdictions have perfected the art of using social media platforms to scope out their rivals so as to perfectly time attacks.

“Social media is for legitimate purposes, but persons are going to use it to prey on the unsuspecting; they are using it for scamming, they are using it for identity theft, they are using it for account stealing and hijacking, they are using it for a lot of other illegal reasons,” the seasoned digital forensics expert told the Jamaica Observer on Monday.

The professional, who spoke on condition of anonymity, given the sensitivity of his position, was responding to news of the weekend murder of TikTok influencer Xavier Fogah o/c ‘Niah Gang’ while posting live on the popular platform.

He said Jamaican security officials have been exposed to the practice during fact-finding missions to other territories where security experts, in gathering evidence, would scope out criminals who were using technology to monitor their enemies on social media platforms before striking.

“TikTok is just yesterday’s platform, this business of persons being online and being on Live and being killed on Live did not start from TikTok, it’s a long time thing, it started out where people watching their opponents on videos — people showing off — they find them and shoot, them; some of them lived and some of them died, it was always on
Instagram. Instagram pre-dated TikTok,” the expert said.

In noting that individuals like Foga are drawn to the TikTok platform because of the monetary benefits, he said, “Because people are using it illegally doesn’t mean you must ban it; that’s my opinion, and tomorrow you might see a new platform. Every few years you are going to see a different platform”.

“The issue is the oversharing. Any platform you go on and overshare and advertise your location and engage in ways that you offend others you can be a target, and you can be a victim. It is not the platform, it is the practice, that’s my take,” the digital forensics expert declared.

He said rather than calling for the use of the platform to be made illegal, Jamaicans should police and manage their usage of it.

“There is this big thing from a security perspective; you have to be careful about oversharing because, people have overshared and it has led to theft, it has led to rape, it has led to exploitative actions; a lot of things can happen. What we have to do is implore the public to be responsible in using social media. You can’t just go around and advertise on live,” he said.

There are also other emerging dangers, he said, which can lead to even more treacherous situations.

“Live can be recorded and be shared to other persons and with deep fake (video of a person in which their face or body is digitally altered so that they appear to be someone else) persons might also use your live, run it through an AI engine and say what you didn’t even say. That’s emergent,” he warned.

In the meantime, he said the other danger posed is that of feuds which begin in a virtual space migrating to actual life.

“I watched that guy because he was just always on my timeline on TikTok and I am not casting any aspersions. Sometimes he and persons would be feuding and another time he and them are friends, but then by doing this you can develop a whole lot of enemies,” the expert noted.

He said the illusion of safety which comes from being in an online space can prove deadly.

“It’s a safe haven, you know. From a psychological perspective you can get out some of the things that you have issues with and you are not facing your opponent, so behind that screen you can tell them anything you want to tell them. It’s a whole psychology behind TikTok,” he stated.

While admitting that the spectre of feuds migrating from the virtual space to the live space poses an added challenge to law enforcers, he expressed concern about vigilante justice and armchair detectives who will come to conclusions that are not grounded in facts.

“The other part now is where you are going to have reprisals, because I followed the guy and a lot of persons now want to kill others and they are not police. They have decided who has done the killing and so that’s a new fight. Whatever it is, we can use to warn people, let’s do it. A lot of great changes are borne out of exhaustive repetition,” he told the Observer.

Fogah, a graduate of York Castle High School, was shot dead around 9:00 pm on Saturday outside his Panton Lane home in St Catherine South. He was supposedly trading barbs with another content creator in the moments leading up to the gun attack.

TikTok, released in September 2016, allows users to create, watch, and share short videos shot on mobile devices or webcams.

In November Australia approved a social media ban for children aged under 16, setting a benchmark for jurisdictions around the world with one of the toughest regulations targeting Big Tech, according to news agency Reuters. The law forces tech giants from
Instagram and Facebook owner Meta to TikTok to stop minors logging in or face fines of up to Aus$49.5 million (US$32 million). A trial of methods to enforce it will start in January with the ban to take effect in a year.

According to investopedia, about 36.7 per cent of TikTok users are aged 18 to 24, 52 per cent female, and 48 per cent male. It said children spend an average 75 minutes per day on the platform.