Facebook-hired firm promoted fake TikTok challenge to generate bad press

Have you heard about that viral "devious licks" TikTok challenge? That's the one where kids were reportedly filming TikTok videos where they would vandalize school property. How about the self-explanatory "Slap a Teacher" TikTok challenge?

If you're familiar with these stories that paint a very negative picture of the viral video app, there's a chance you learned about it from a Republican marketing firm that Facebook hired to generate bad press for TikTok.

According to a new report from Taylor Lorenz in the Washington Post, Facebook hired Targeted Victory, a marketing firm that was launched by former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's 2012 digital director, to orchestrate and carry out an anti-TikTok campaign.

One area that Targeted Victory appears to focus on is getting local media outlets to cover TikTok trends that could be dangerous or harmful to young people. 

Last year, a link about a viral "Slap a Teacher" TikTok challenge was shared in a text message group for parents of kids in my son's first grade class. This story about a concerning TikTok trend for children was spreading across the country. Local news stations, especially, covered this news with TV segments on stations running from CBS Sacramento in California to WPLG Local 10 in Miami, Florida. 

In the days after "Slap a Teacher" TikTok challenge spread, it became clear that such a trend did not exist on the platform. It was a hoax that was initially spread via posts on Facebook. 

However, according to the report, Targeted Victory helped spread the fake challenge and even boasted about local news coverage on the nonexistent TikTok trend that it was able to procure. The group kept an internal document that archived negative press TikTok received from this and other trends, such as the "devious licks" trend, a school property vandalization challenge that did exist on the platform, but actually originated on Facebook, according to a report from the podcast Reply All.

In emails obtained by the Post, Targeted Victory employees strategized ways to spread negative stories about TikTok.

"While Meta is the current punching bag, TikTok is the real threat especially as a foreign owned app that is #1 in sharing data that young teens are using,” a director at Targeted Victory wrote in an email about the campaign's messaging.

Employees even imagine possible headlines for coverage, such as "From dances to danger: how TikTok has become the most harmful social media space for kids."

Another email from a staffer wrote about a "broader message" to deter Congress and other state officials from possible legislation targeting Facebook. The social media giant Meta has recently been the subject of increased scrutiny as a result of the revelations brought to light by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen regarding the safety of children on Meta-owned platforms like Instagram.

Targeted Victory, which has received hundreds of millions of dollars from Republican campaigns, was successful in doing just that. Congresspeople and local officials publicly shared their concern about TikTok as a result of some of the stories Targeted Victory helped to disseminate.

The move is not entirely shocking coming from Facebook. The social network clearly views TikTok as a threat. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and company have used questionable tactics to take on competitors previously. A Facebook spokesperson defended Targeted Victory's campaign telling the Post "we believe all platforms, including TikTok, should face a level of scrutiny consistent with their growing success.”

But TikTok is a behemoth, backed by a company that certainly has the means to take on Facebook. A company spokesperson told the Washington Post that it was "deeply concerned" by the report, but it will certainly be interesting to see how TikTok really responds.