Technology AI, Science and New Things
Over the weekend the hashtag #cutewinterboots began trending on TikTok. In one video viewed over 100,000 times a person asks for fashion advice but holds up handwritten signs about a law in Mississippi to authorise immigration bounty hunters.
Another starts out like any other “get ready with me” video but cuts to a teleprompter style message on how to discreetly report immigration enforcement in your neighbourhood.
A post captioned “cute winter boot sale in Chicago!!!” was a video of a protest against immigration policy. Cute winter boots is “algo-speak” aiming to circumvent restrictive algorithms (slogan: “Cute winter boots protect you from ice”, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency).
The opaqueness of TikTok’s moderation choices now the company is cosying up to Trump has bred paranoia among users trying to organise protest against the new US government.
