Kerala Police's social media wing has discontinued its hugely popular TikTok roasting video - PC Kuttan Pilla Speaking – after facing allegations of moral policing.
The video was uploaded on the police's YouTube channel on July 6. It has garnered over 7 lakh views before the production was suspended. However, the video had not been taken off from YouTube till 1pm on Tuesday.
ArjYou model
The 'Kuttan Pilla' series was conceived on the lines of Malayalam TikTok roasting videos popularised by a young YouTuber Arjun recently.
Arjun's YouTube channel - ArjYou – that makes fun of TikTok videos became an instant hit gathering nearly three million subscribers in a short period of time.
His targets included popular TikTok users Krishnajeev, known as Fukru, and Dhanya Rajesh, who goes by the name Helen of Sparta on the micro video platform.
'Kuttan Pilla' too followed the pattern and targetted the same youngsters.
'Misuse of power'
Lawyer and social commentator Harish Vasudevan was among those who found fault with 'Kuttan Pilla'.
He alleged it was a case of misuse of power. “The TikTok users have made some videos exercising their fundamental rights. The police have no power to pick some of them and comment on them (in bad taste). It's an act of the state being moral police,” he said.
He also slammed the police for indulging in activities that are not mentioned in the Kerala Police Act as well as the Police Manual.
He wondered how police got time to make such videos to feed on the patriarchal Malayali psyche even as hundreds of cyber crime complaints remained unsolved in the state.
He demanded that the video be removed from online platforms.
Police defence
The police rubbished the allegations saying they created the video only for awareness purpose.
“Our only aim was to send out messages to the public that we are keenly following what happens on social media,” a member of the Kerala Police's social media team told Onmanorama on Monday.
He said the team did not mean to insult any person. “We had taken prior permission from Fukru and Dhanya for using their videos. Nowhere we have called it a roasting video,” he said.
A dance number by Fukru has been mocked in the police's video whereas Dhanya has been criticised for uttering an expletive during a live chat. In fact, the girl in her early 20s was reacting to someone who verbally abused during the live chat.
Fukru contests police claim
Fukru, a former contestant of Bigg Boss Malayalam, told Onmanorama that his permission was sought before the video was made live.
However, he said he cannot agree with the usage of the footage. “I was told that it would be used in a positive sense. However, the video has come out like any other troll / roasting video though I haven't done anything wrong in the video. It would have been proper if they used a video of my bike stunts to create awareness,” he said.
He said the police video in effect endorsed the cyber bullying being done by many others.
Dhanya was unavailable for comment.
Others featured in the video include a young man who uses his long beard as a face mask and an old man attempting a dance.
“We juxtaposed the bearded man's video with that of a healthcare worker who developed scars on her face because of wearing masks for a long hours. It was done to highlight efforts of the COVID frontline workers,” the police official said.
The officer said making maximum reach for the content was not on their agenda. The decision to stop the production of the series was taken after Onmanorama spoke to the official.
Top cop's order
Additional Director General of Police Manoj Abraham said he has instructed the Kerala Police social media team to stop video production owing to criticism.
“The series was started to identify those who misbehave on social media and take action against them. I have instructed the team to stop it for the time being following some criticism,” he said.
But he hinted that TikTok roasting will be continued soon. “It will resume with more positive content,” he said.