New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) cited the “corrosiveness of TikTok” when discussing reports of multiple women being punched across New York City in recent weeks.
During a Tuesday appearance on “Good Morning America,” Adams was asked about the reported assaults after videos on TikTok went viral of women describing being punched moments earlier while walking down the sidewalk.
“Despicable,” he replied. “You know, they better hope that I’m not out on the street when I see that takes place.”
“It’s unbelievable that you see the corrosiveness of TikTok not only for teaching people how to steal cars, how to ride on top of subway stations’ trains. But just this pervasive, negative, anti‑social behavior,” he continued. “And for a woman to walk the street…it’s unacceptable to be punched in that manner.”
Multiple women have reported being punched across the city in recent weeks, with the first report appearing on social media on March 17, according to The Washington Post. Since then, at least half a dozen women have posted videos on social media reporting that they were assaulted, with at least two filing police reports.
One man was reportedly arrested last week after he randomly punched a woman in the streets of Manhattan, according to the Associated Press.
Adams, who has frequently criticized TikTok and other social media platforms, said that the version of TikTok in the U.S. is not the same as it is in China, suggesting more violent content is available on the U.S.’s version of the app.
“This version of TikTok is not displayed in China,” he said. “China, which puts out TikTok, you can’t have this in their country. That is why we’re going after social media companies.”
Adams also confirmed that he has seen a few videos of the incidents in the city, adding that the assaults appear to increase depending on what video is trending.
“Well, we’ve seen a few in the city, but one is too many,” Adams said. “We see this trending when someone sees something on TikTok, Instagram or one of these social media platforms, they duplicate this behavior and there’s a real correlation between the negative actions and what people are seeing trending on social media.”