DANGEROUS NEW TIKTOK TREND – Sensational Language! A Qualitative Discourse Analysis of TikTok and Facebook Through Similar Scandals

This study examines Canadian media coverage of TikTok and Facebook amid similar scandals: TikTok's ban from government devices in March 2023 and Facebook's whistleblower, Frances Haugen, scandal in October 2021. Using Bacchi's "What is the Problem Represented to Be" approach, a qualitative content study of 51 Canadian news stories (37 TikTok, 14 Facebook) was completed to see how the media talked about the associated scandals and risks of each platform. The results show that the majority of news coverage of TikTok in Canada was negative. It used sensational language, focused on the app's links to China, and framed it as a direct and intentional threat, particularly to youth. Facebook coverage, on the other hand, was less common overall, despite similar security concerns. It often represented the platform to be accidentally negligent instead of intentionally harmful. The differences are discussed through the framework of moral panic, youth-focused technopanics, and Canada's extensive history of both latent and outwardly expressed anti-Asian sentiment. The study shows how historical biases, geopolitical narratives, and youth moral panic potentially influence Canadian media’s use of sensational language, in turn impacting the coverage of social media platforms and potentially shaping public perception and policy in Canada.

Author dc:creator

• Jones, Christiana

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hodson, Jaigris

• School of communication and culture

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25316/IR-20518

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10613/28955