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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Technology
Caitlin Cassidy

Gifts for strangers: the ‘ethically ambiguous’ TikTok trend using unknowing people as fodder for content

TikTok logo
A Melbourne TikTok creator was criticised for a video described as ‘dehumanising’ by its subject. ‘Random acts of kindness’ videos get billions of views on the platform. Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters

Picture the scene. You’re sitting alone, enjoying a coffee. Maybe you’ve got a podcast on. Maybe you’re on the phone to your mum. Enter a random person clutching a bunch of flowers.

“Would you be able to hold this?” they ask, before gliding away, content in the knowledge they’ve just made your day (probably).

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