TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A restaurant in Kaohsiung’s decision to ban the use of TikTok on its premises has generated controversy on social media.
On Tuesday (Feb. 7), “Fishers’ Diner” (釣客食堂) wrote in a Facebook post, “Considering the previous incident where someone unhygienically licked public utensils at a large chain restaurant for a TikTok video, we have specially printed 300 stickers to gift to our friends! We also announce that starting today, any TikTok video-making is banned at our restaurant, and TikTok influencers are banned from entering! This is to avoid thoughtless licking.”
Supporters of the decision asked for stickers from the restaurant. Others echoed the restaurant owner’s opinion of TikTok.
User Ong Long Sim commented, “TikTok is not only dangerous because of cyber security (issues), censorship, and misinformation, it also harms people’s, especially adolescents’, attention span in absorbing information. Apart from hoping there will be relevant regulations to suppress it, I also support the restaurant owner’s active boycott.”
Meanwhile, opponents flooded both the Fishers’ Diner’s Facebook page and Google profile with criticism and one-star reviews. “People must get their phone checked to dine at a restaurant? … Who do you think you are?” wrote Facebook user Kung Chuan.
“Don’t you know the Japanese uploaded to Instagram?” commented another user named Chen Hao (陳浩). Later, he added, “The Japanese uploaded to Twitter, and now China’s TikTok takes the blame. What nice logic.”
Other critics accused the restaurant of politicizing a non-political issue.
Fishers’ Diner owner Yeh Jen-jui (葉人瑞) told Taiwan News in an exclusive interview that his intention in enforcing the policy is to prevent further incidents similar to the one in Japan. He added that the restaurant’s staff will not be checking patrons’ phones.
While Yeh knew that the Japanese diner who licked utensils at the sushi restaurant chain Sushiro had uploaded to Instagram on Twitter, he said the young man also admitted that he was imitating a “challenge” on TikTok. “Even though he uploaded to Twitter and Instagram, it started on Tiktok.”
Regarding the criticism and negative reviews he received, Yeh said, “I respect freedom of speech, but using TikTok as an excuse to attack is wrong. I don’t understand why people got so political about this.” He added that he had already consulted with the restaurant’s legal counsel and is preparing to sue those who leave slanderous, one-star reviews without ever dining there.
In a post published on Sunday (Feb. 12), Fishers’ Diner emphasized that its goal is to prevent “challenges” from happening at restaurants and causing trouble for others. It also shared images of news reports about TikTok challenges that had led to dangerous or negative results.
“(We) didn’t think TikTok could make so many people lose their minds like this! … ‘The sound of TikTok erases parents’ child-raising efforts’ is such a true slogan,” the restaurant concluded.