China · TikTok · Instagram · NBC News Tech
How bizarre fish ‘experiment’ videos from China hijacked the internet’s worst impulses
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Most of the hundreds of “LabGerm” videos posted and reposted to social media in recent weeks start out the same way: A pair of gloved hands appears against a white backdrop as an AI-generated voice narrates and upbeat music plays in the background.
Key facts
- But a search on the platform still turned up more than 20 imitators as of mid-May
- A TikTok spokesperson said that the platform deleted all the accounts after they were flagged by NBC News
- Douyin has restricted access to mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong, although people from outside China can access it by setting their Apple ID to these regions or via other workarounds
- Peter Li, a professor at the University of Houston specializing in animal policy in China, told NBC News that he has been monitoring the pleco abuse videos for several months now
Summary
In the foreground, a fish undergoes a torturous “experiment.” Some of the videos appear to have been made entirely or at least in part with AI, while others seem to show real animals in distress. These videos, posted by dozens of accounts across TikTok, Instagram and Facebook from Chinese social media, have amassed millions of views and become notorious across the internet, sparking outrage that has only seemed to fuel their spread, a phenomenon now commonly called “rage bait.” The videos, and even the term “LabGerm”, have spawned their own small internet niche of reaction videos, discussion, bizarre memes and even merch.
TikTok has removed at least three accounts spreading the videos, saying they violate its community guidelines.