The official TikTok account for the Paralympics has become embroiled in a debate over its portrayals of the athletes, with some critics suggesting the tone of the clips is “mocking” and “disrespectful”.
The Paralympics account has more than three million followers on the platform and frequently posts videos of the athletes participating in a sport or celebrating a win.
Unlike the official Olympics TikTok account, which celebrates the achievements of the athletes in a straightforward manner, the Paralympics account often uses viral TikTok sounds to accompany the clips.
In one video, it shows blind or visually impaired swimmers competing in a race while relying on the use of “tappers” to help them navigate the pool.
The video is set to a TikTok audio of the 90s game Bop It!, with the sound playing each time a swimmer is tapped during the race. The brief clip ends with a shot of the winner, along with the audio: “Wow! You beat Bop It!”
In the caption of the video, which has been viewed more than five million times, the Paralympics account wrote: “Blind swimmers getting bopped,” before adding in the comments section: “This is how blind and vision impaired swimmers are notified they are close to the wall. A bop on the head.”
In another video, which has been viewed more than 40 million times, it shows a single-leg athlete pedalling on his bike, with the TikTok set to a remixed version of the lyrics “left, left, left” from the song Follow the Leader by The Soca Boys.
“LEFT…LEFT…LEFT,” the account captioned the viral video.
A TikTok showing athletes participating in wheelchair handball is also set to a surprising sound. It uses TikTok audio that says: “And the next trick is called a hospital flip.” As the sound continues: “Why is it called a hospital flip?” one of the Paralympians can be seen flipping his wheelchair over onto the court.
The videos have since become the subject of viral debate on social media this week after a tweet accused the Paralympics of “mocking their own athletes. Critics have pointed out the differences between videos posted by the games for athletes with disabilities and the official Olympics TikTok account.
“Bit weird that the official Paralympics TikTok has so many videos mocking their own athletes,” @ycsm1n tweeted, before adding in a follow-up tweet: “Allegedly a few Paralympians have spoken about the account and how they don’t appreciate the memes, they’d much rather be appreciated for their athleticism (and rightfully so considering how hard they work).
In another tweet, @ycsm1n shared a video taken from the Paralympics account of an athlete participating in a long jump. “Call me a snowflake all you want, I just don’t think there’s anything particularly funny about this video,” they wrote.
In response to the posts, many agreed with the suggestion that the videos are offensive, with one person writing: “This is insanely wrong,” while another said: “Super disrespectful and extremely ableist.”
On TikTok, where the videos often rack up millions of views, many viewers have also criticised the posts.
“How have you not been fired yet?” one viewer asked on a recent video, while another TikTok user wrote: “Does the admin have any empathy for these athletes?”
Although many have found the videos offensive, others have defended the TikTok account’s content. Some have suggested that the committee is raising awareness of the games through the videos.
“This account is so great. Hilarious while providing exposure the Paralympians so greatly deserve,” one person commented. “Inspirational to see their success despite obstacles.”
British Paralympic table tennis player Jack Hunter-Spivey also thinks the videos are funny, with the athlete telling BBC’s Newsbeat that he thinks the videos can raise awareness of the Paralympics while celebrating their skills.
“This is one great way to do it,” he said, adding: “I think it gets more eyes on Paralympics, where we’re getting on the trends and stuff like that on TikTok.”
He also told the outlet that Paralympians are often seen as inspirational, “and in our own right we definitely are, but we can also make jokes as well”.
“We can also make light of our situation and if I fall out my chair in front of my friends and I’m not injured, we would make fun of it and we would laugh,” he added.
As for those who have complained about the videos, Hunter-Spivey noted that most of the comments have come from able-bodied people.
“A lot of the videos that I’ve seen on TikTok of people complaining are from able-bodied people,” he said.
Jess Whyte, who plays wheelchair basketball, also agreed with the fellow athlete, telling the outlet that she thinks it’s “great” that people are seeing the videos and watching and learning from them.
“The Paralympics is a great opportunity to celebrate difference and if we’re going to celebrate the great things, we can also laugh at the funny things,” she said. “It’s trying to normalise being comfortable around people with disabilities and normalising the differences.”
As for the individual behind the account, the International Paralympic Committee told the outlet that the account is run by “a Paralympian who fully understands disability” and who has “created a strong following through edgy and unique content”.
The Independent has contacted the International Paralympic Committee and the official Paralympics account for comment.
