It seems people are confused by the decidedly silly tone of the Paralympics’ official TikTok page.
The verified account has been active for years, and has been viewed by some as controversial.
One video from last year uses audio from the electronic toy Bop It! during a montage of blind swimmers getting tapped on the head with foam-tipped poles, which the account explains is how they are notified they’re getting close to the wall.
Another video from 2023 shows Australian cyclist Darren Hicks, who had his right leg amputated after a crash, winning a time trial gold medal at Tokyo 2020. The audio used for this video is a popular TikTok song that’s been modified so the only audible word is “left.”
The TikTok of Hicks was shared by Barstool Sports last April on X, formerly Twitter, with a caption many people with mental health conditions would find offensive: “Paralympics TikTok admin is CRAZY.”
In response, a chorus of X users criticized the TikTok account for being “disrespectful,” “evil,” “gross” and using “ableism for views.”
To a degree, the response is understandable. Many are taught that laughing at disabled people is wrong. Instead, we’re told to look at disabled people — especially Paralympians — as strong, resilient, inspiring and even tragic.
Yet, these established ideas about disabled people are considered by many in the community to be harmful stereotypes that hold disabled people back. Another issue is that if the Paralympics’ TikTok page focused more on “inspiring stories” — much like we do for Olympic athletes — it could be misinterpreted as “inspiration porn” — or “inspiring” or “uplifting” stories that portray people with disabilities as inspirations solely because they’re disabled. The result of inspiration porn often only makes nondisabled people feel good about not having a disability.
This kind of messaging wouldn’t work with the current theme of the Paris Paralympic Games, being that the entire message of its opening ceremony was that although we live in a so-called inclusive society, many disabled people still feel misunderstood and like an afterthought.
BERTRAND GUAY via Getty Images
Also, did you even know that blind swimmers have to be tapped on the head so they don’t ram into the wall before watching the above TikTok?
These are the issues that the official Paralympian TikTok account, which is run by disabled people and former Paralympian athletes, is dealing with. They want you to watch and care about the Paralympics. They want you to have fun, engage and ask questions. They’re inviting you to laugh with them, rather than at them.
The International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) digital media coordinator, Richard Fox — a former Paralympian who has been involved in para sports since the age of 10 — told Adweek in 2023 that he didn’t want the videos featured on their official TikTok account to amount to inspiration porn.
“I wanted to showcase people with disabilities doing sport, but in a different way to how it’s been done previously,” he explained. “And so by using the viral sounds and by using the trends, that’s how we’re doing that.”
Fox added that the account also aims to inform users who interact with its content. He said he spends up to an hour after publishing each TikTok monitoring comments and answering questions about the video or Paralympic sports in general.
Utilizing social media trends and memes to elicit a specific mood is a savvy idea. Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign team was lauded and gained support after it decided to utilize social media to inject a sense of joy into the 2024 presidential election. So, how come this works for an election, but is viewed as mocking for a sporting event for disabled people?
It may be because disability is still widely misunderstood.
A spokesperson from the IPC told NPR last year that a lot of the backlash they’re receiving for their TikTok content comes primarily from people who are not disabled and are unaware that the account is run by Fox — or a “Paralympian who fully understands disability.”
“We have created a strong following through edgy and unique content that allows us to educate an audience who might be less aware of Paralympic sport and the achievements of our athletes,” the spokesperson told NPR. “We appreciate that not everyone will like the content and sometimes we don’t get it right, but we do closely monitor posts, always converse in reactions to them, and learn from all feedback.”
The spokesperson also added that there’s plenty of Paralympians who like the content — and think that it could help raise awareness and normalize their differences.
“I love it. I love it all. I love any type of coverage that sparks discussion, that maybe we can react to and say, ‘Hey this wasn’t OK,’ or maybe to promote some controversial coverage and say, ‘No, that’s exactly what I want to say in this moment,’” opening ceremony flag bearer and wheelchair basketball captain Steve Serio told USA Today in an article posted Thursday. “We as athletes, Team USA, we want all the smoke both on and off the court.”
Adam Pretty via Getty Images
Other athletes who have been featured on the official Paralympic TikTok account agree.
“I don’t feel like they are mocking me, rather just using a song which uses the word left, and I happen to be pedaling with only my left leg,” Hicks, the cyclist who was the subject of the TikTok Barstool Sports shared last year, told NBC News.
André Ramos, a bronze medalist in boccia, told Adweek that “making fun with our handicaps is a sign that we accept ourselves as we are and that others do not see the disability as a difference.”
Para surfer Liv Stone told Adweek that she likes that the account isn’t “pushing awareness … in your face.” Wheelchair basketball player Jess Whyte told the BBC that “if we’re going to celebrate the great things, we can also laugh at the funny things.”
But because disability is not a monolith, not every disabled athlete loves the content.
Sean Jackson, who plays for the England Amputee Football Association, told the BBC that he’s not a fan of the TikTok account’s content.
“They just choose to sort of mock them and turn them into memes and try and use their sport to entertain people from a comedic point of view,” he said.
Yet, despite how one feels about the account, perhaps one should think about what six-time Paralympic gold medalist Brad Snyder told CNN last year when he became the subject of one of the official account’s TikToks.
In the video, Synder, who is blind, can be seen transitioning from swimming to cycling during the Paratriathlon at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. As Synder exits the pool with his guide, Greg Billington, he struggles to locate his bike and wiggles his fingers in the air trying to find it. As he does this, the video’s audio plays piano music, making it look like Synder is playing “air piano.”
Synder told CNN that he found the TikTok of him funny, and even reposted it. But much like Serio, he hopes the humorous content can help lead to better understanding of disabled people’s needs and spark a larger discussion.
“And now let’s have a conversation about what my experience might be like and what my challenges might be, and how you as an able-bodied person, might be able to understand and accommodate me in various ways or help me cross the street or help me without pitying me and those sorts of things,” Snyder said.
