Hypothetical call to shut down Thun’s Tiktok channel

Politics and Memes: Why the SP parliamentary group wants to get the city of Thun to shut down its Tiktok channel.

Picture this: Thun, a city in the Bernese Oberland known for its majestic castle and turquoise Aare river, has been running a Tiktok channel for two years. The channel regularly combines Thun's events, videos and images with the latest internet trends and memes in fun and creative ways. Occasionally a serious approach is taken, such as when a local councilor explains how to properly dispose of waste in a video filled with the words of many young people.

The posts – which range from adorable cats to Minecraft references – regularly receive thousands of views. The most successful video received over 200,000 views.

So far, no harm done. Or not?

The success clearly pissed off some lawmakers. The popular channel faces an urgent request from city councilor Franz Schori and the Socialist parliamentary group. They asked the city government to shut down their Tiktok channel. The platform presents security risks and poses a danger to young people. The city should move its communications to a platform that “guarantees active moderation.” Additionally, the initiative’s creator called the city’s Tiktok posts “embarrassing and pseudo-funny.”

Responsibility instead of humor?

The move is certainly not just for taste, say promoters. It's about responsibility. They believe the city must serve as a role model. The straw that broke the camel's back was a video that was classified as racist by Schori and the SP faction (could it have been about the word “Talahon”?). The video uses a word for young people, which is now problematic. The Thun city media office denied the accusations of racism in 20 Minutes but closed the video in question as a precaution.

City Council sees no urgency

As is often the case, opinions vary when it comes to humor – even in Thun politics. This was evident in the vote on the urgency of the submitted hypothesis: the application was rejected by 22 votes to 14, with 2 abstentions. Therefore this channel will be reserved for now.

reach target group

In fact, it is becoming increasingly difficult for cities and communities to reach young target groups. In fact, the city of Thun does exactly this in an exemplary way. It was viewed more than 1 million times last year, according to media reports. Other cities are pursuing similar strategies. Lucerne also relies on humorous, self-deprecating videos on Instagram.

Mai's duel

The battle over Thun's Tiktok channel continues: In May 2025, the city council will decide whether the city can continue to rely on Tiktok. Ironically, this debate has provided perfect material for the next article. For example as a meme:

(THW)

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