Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk reacted to claims made by multiple TikTok users that they were punched in the face randomly by strangers while walking in New York City. The development comes amid talks of a potential TikTok ban in the U.S.
What Happened: Musk expressed surprise after multiple TikTok users reported that they were assaulted in New York City. These incidents include two daytime attacks reported to the police this week.
Halley Kate, a TikTok influencer with over 1.1 million followers, posted a video on Monday recounting an incident that caused her to fall to the ground and lose consciousness, reported The New York Post.
Kate did not specify when or where the incident occurred.
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Another woman, Mikayla Toninato, who attends Parsons School of Design in Greenwich Village, shared a similar story in a post six hours later.
She described being punched in the face while walking home. In an update post, Toninato revealed that the attack took place at West 14th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan.
Oliva Brand also took to TikTok on March 17 to report a similar experience, in a clip filmed on Mulberry Street in Nolita.
The NYPD confirmed the accounts of Kate and Brand, stating that a 23-year-old woman reported an assault at West 16th Street and 7th Avenue on Monday, and a 25-year-old woman was attacked at Kenmare and Mulberry Streets on March 17.
Why It Matters: These incidents add to the growing concerns about safety in New York City. The city has been grappling with a rise in violent crimes, including random attacks on strangers.
The recent complaints are reminiscent of the “knockout game,” where individuals are encouraged to punch strangers randomly.
Meanwhile, Kevin O'Leary of "Shark Tank" fame expressed interest in purchasing the Chinese-owned app TikTok. Shark Tank host Mark Cuban and Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham have supported banning the social media platform. Avril Haines, the Director of National Intelligence, has voiced concerns that TikTok could be used to interfere in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
If approved by the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden, the current version of the bill would require TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok within five months or face removal from app stores across all formats, impacting about 150 million U.S. users.
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