If an emergency is taking place, the one thing you need is your phone. If you don’t have it, it’s not uncommon to ask a stranger for theirs. Giving our phones to strangers is always a risk, but one that we often take in service of the greater good. But while we want to be helpful in times of crisis, TikToker Jameen (@jameen_od) presents a reason why we should actually hold back and not relinquish our phones to complete strangers.
Why is he issuing a warning?
“Hey, y’all be careful,” he says. “There is a dumb trend going around where people are asking to use your phone for whatever reason, to make an emergency phone call, call somebody, whatever, and then they hand you your phone back after they deleted your TikTok.”
“This is the dumbest trend ever,” he added. “They need to ask, so y’all be careful. Man, don’t be just giving random strangers your phone. Man, you can’t trust nobody nowadays. Man, this is just dumb. I don’t know why you would do something like this.”
Viewers respond
For the most part, commenters were shocked that people would hand over their phones in the first place. “I don’t let people use my phone anyway…” one wrote. “Ever.”
“Who lets a stranger even touch their phone?” another asked.
While a third added, “I don’t care what type of emergency it is. You are not using my phone! period.”
Jameen didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment and Instagram direct message. The video amassed 219,700 views.
@jameen_od #fypシ #tiktok #trending ♬ original sound – Jameen_OD
Why does it matter?
If this trend is real, it all links back to the TikTok “ban or sell” law. Back in April, then-President Joe Biden signed a law dictating that TikTok must be banned on Jan. 19 unless the app divests from its Chinese parent company ByteDance.
This deadline passed, and no deal was made, so on Jan. 19, TikTok “went dark” and was removed from all app stores. While President Donald Trump signed an executive order to get TikTok back live for the next 75 days, the app still hasn’t returned to app stores since. So, if someone were to delete the TikTok app from their phone, there’s no way of getting it back.
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