"Embarrassing and pseudo-funny" Thun goes viral on TikTok - it's all getting too colorful for the SP

The SP parliamentary group has submitted a postulate against the city of Thun's TikTok account. The reason: security risks and problematic posts.

The City of Thun's TikTok posts go viral time and again, making people laugh and smile. However, the SP parliamentary group does not find the posts so funny: Councillor Franz Schori describes them as "embarrassing and pseudo-funny", which is why they submitted an urgent postulate at the end of November.

In the postulate, the SP calls on the city to leave TikTok. The municipal council should also review and realign the city's communication on social media.

TikTok in particular has repeatedly attracted negative attention due to security risks, problematic content and data protection concerns. It is also dangerous for young people. According to the motion, this is in "tension with the responsibility of the city of Thun", as "20 Minuten" writes.

City must set an example

The city must set an example and focus on platforms that guarantee active moderation. In contrast to TikTok, such moderated platforms would actively prevent destructive content such as hate speech or false information. Schori cites Facebook and YouTube as examples, as the commuter newspaper continues.

However, the SP parliamentary group would not only find TikTok itself questionable, but also the content that Thun publishes there under the "3600thun" account. Humorous videos have been regularly posted on this account for two years. They don't take themselves too seriously.

"On TikTok, we deliberately post entertaining videos aimed at a young audience on a regular basis," says a media spokesperson for the city to blue News. "This allows us to generate reach so that our informative content reaches even more people." The team decides what content is made.

One post is said to be racist - and has since been deleted

Schori criticizes one post in particular in the initiative. According to him, it was racist. It contains a youth word that was initially used as a proper term for a social group, but is now increasingly being used in a racist context.

However, the city reacted correctly and deleted the video. Nevertheless: "Such scandalous content undermines trust in the city marketing and communication department", the postulate states.

Thun's media office rejects Schori's accusation. However, it has decided to deactivate the content because of the postulate. "We have received a request for a review, which we take seriously. We do not want to and cannot anticipate an answer to the postulate at this time," the city's media spokesperson told blue News.

The urgency of the postulate was rejected by 22 votes to 14 with two abstentions. The initiative will now be discussed by the City Council on May 8, 2025.