On Thursday, TikTOk planned a daylong event to mark Pride Month and “celebrate the diverse and incredible LGBT+ creator community.”
But the popular video-sharing platform was forced to cancel the virtual celebration after only five minutes when trolls Zoombombed it with racist and homophobic slurs, as well as other offensive content.
Today’s #MyPride event was meant to be a celebration of our community & of authenticity, self-love, & inclusivity. Unfortunately, some bad actors – who were not invited to the Zoom event – interrupted the start of the celebratory event with extremely hurtful, harmful comments.
— tiktokcreators (@tiktokcreators) June 25, 2020
“Today’s #MyPride event was meant to be a celebration of our community & of authenticity, self-love, & inclusivity. Unfortunately, some bad actors – who were not invited to the Zoom event – interrupted the start of the celebratory event with extremely hurtful, harmful comments,” TikTok wrote later on Twitter. “We want to express our heartfelt apologies to those who took the time to join this special community event before it was sabotaged. This inappropriate incident in no way reflects our support for you and should have no reflection on the spirit and uplifting nature of Pride. We encourage each of you to continue celebrating #MyPride in your own way. We are inspired by our LGBTQ+ community and excited to celebrate you, today and every day.”
More from Business Insider: In a transcript of the Zoom call’s text chat sent to Business Insider, trolls almost immediately flooded the chat with messages about “Straight Pride,” Donald Trump, and Chick-fil-A, the food chain that donated millions of dollars to anti-LGBTQ organizations. Some Zoombombers, with usernames like “GayNotOkay,” repeatedly posted slurs for Black people and queer individuals in the chat. … Several LGBTQ creators told Business Insider that while they were shocked by the behavior of the trolls, they were disappointed that TikTok failed to adequately secure the call and take precautionary measures for Zoom, a platform that has come under fire for its handling of privacy and security issues. Some in attendance told Business Insider that they were losing confidence in TikTok’s commitment to the LGBTQ community, and were reminded of TikTok’s past actions of suppressing videos that featured LGBTQ content.
