TikTok continues to be on shaky ground in the United States. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court upheld a law passed by Congress last year that required a ban of the Chinese-owned app unless it was sold to a government-approved buyer.
Hours before the law took effect, TikTok went dark briefly, then flickered back to life when President Trump, a day before his inauguration, indicated support for the app. He then signed an executive order stalling the ban for 75 days.
Whether the app will disappear for good is unclear, but in the meantime, here are four true-crime stories associated with TikTok — the most downloaded app in the United States and the world in 2020, 2021 and 2022 — that captured broader attention.
It’s of course no secret that the glossy dance videos that have populated TikTok since its inception, along with much online content, is more fantasy than reality. But that’s little comfort to the revelations uncovered in this 2024 Netflix series.
“Dancing for the Devil” primarily spends time with dancers who were managed by the talent company 7M Films and were members of Shekinah Church — both entities founded and led by Pastor Robert Shinn — as well as desperate family members of those still involved with 7M. These families claim that their loved ones are essentially trapped.
Shinn created 7M to seemingly help TikTok dancers and aspiring influencers elevate their status. The dancers we hear from claim that 7M is a cult and that Shinn is an abusive cult leader. Accusations include those of fraud, labor violations, extortion, grooming and assault. (Shinn did not participate in the series and denies wrongdoing.)
“Dancing for the Devil” falls into a category of true crime that does less looking back and instead documents a situation that continues to unfold. Our film critic commended the three-part series for not rushing the narrative, calling it “daring, instructive, thoughtful and moving.”
Documentary film
Last year I wrote about how true-crime storytellers used to have little in the way of real-time first-person footage to rely on. Now, as much of our daily lives are documented, the genre has transformed. And there has never quite been a trail of damning video and audio evidence as there was with this case — told in this 2024 Peacock documentary — about the 2021 murders of Ana Abulaban and Rayburn Barron, who were killed by Ana’s estranged husband, Ali Abulaban.
Ali was a TikTok star who, under the username JinnKid, gained prominence and millions of followers with his comedic Skyrim and “Scarface” impressions. He recorded much of his life on his phone, and as his and Ana’s marriage unraveled, he broadcast their fights live, dissolving the perfect image they had projected online.
He even recorded audio during the moment of the murders, and neighbors’ doorbell cameras in their luxury San Diego high-rise captured the aftermath.
This is a story of domestic violence, jealousy and addiction, and of how a fixation on social-media fame can warp reality beyond repair.
Documentary Series
Here we learn about Sania Khan, a photographer and Pakistani American influencer whose TikTok following swelled when she started to speak candidly about her split from her husband, Raheel Ahmad, after a tumultuous and abusive marriage.
Confessional-type content is everywhere on social media, but for Khan, airing out her private life was particularly brave because of the conservative South Asian and Muslim communities of which she was part — cultures that expect women to maintain the status quo and put their family’s reputation first.
While scores of women celebrated her candor and commiserated with her pain in the comments, there was also a brutal backlash from those who thought her posts were shameful, and proceeded to harass, bully and threaten her.
When she was just hours from starting a new chapter in her life, the worst happened.
This episode is particularly poignant because Khan’s story is largely told through her closest friends, who focus on her effervescent personality and her mission to modernize her culture, push past taboos and reclaim her identity.
Digital Series
When Tareasa Johnson, known online as Reesa Teesa, posted a 50-part series to her TikTok page last year recounting her doomed marriage to her ex-husband — a drama that includes claims of fraud, forgery and manipulation — the internet was riveted. As the story unfurled, every revelation more shocking than the last, she gained hundreds of millions of views.
All in, the videos clock in at over six hours, but they’re worth it. It’s also a refreshing way to experience stories like these: stripped down, minimally produced and told directly from the person at its center.
The series could eventually vanish for American users along with the app. But if you miss it, Natasha Rothwell (“The White Lotus”) is developing a television adaptation of the saga.