A child was temporarily removed from his family by Youth Protection in the United States when a TikTok video sparked outrage on the social network.
The video, uploaded by the parents, shows the father, Hank, in army uniform, “playing” with the young child.
But the latter, in tears, does not seem to take any pleasure in it; swaddled in cling film, he seems deeply uncomfortable.
Savannah Glembin, the child’s mother, posted a video to explain herself.
“I didn’t know what we did to our son was serious until the police knocked on our door,” she says.
“Our son was taken from us until the CPR [Child Protection Register] can rate our house, because I posted a video of my husband and my son playing,” she added, stunned.
The mother also reports that the young boy, named Gunner, had fun, that he “laughed and smiled”.
But the Internet users who watched the video by the millions did not see it with the same eye.
A woman in particular, named @Auntkaren0 on TikTok, commented on the video, since removed by the mother, in which we see part of the original video.
This shows the boy’s father shoving their toddler on their bed.
Completely still, arms tied along the body, he falls to his knees and tears begin to flow from his eyes.
Savannah can be heard saying in the background, “If you have a child who tans all day, that’s the only solution.”
Later in the video, the father is heard joking, “It’s a worm.”
“I don’t see what’s funny. I don’t understand how funny it is to put your child in an awkward position and post the video for it to be seen,” Auntkaren0 blames.
“That’s why I don’t like family channels like this, because they’re desperate to get views,” she adds.
Viewers also raised their concerns in the comments.
“I was scared when he fell forward, I thought OMG he’s going to suffocate,” said one.
General outrage led Youth Protection to take an interest in the video and then intervene.
“This video has been distorted in some way [et a conduit] people to think we were abusing our child. But he was laughing and smiling and it was just a funny thing that Hank was doing because Gunner […] had tried to put a fork in a socket,” Savannah said indignantly.
“We would never hurt our son. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to us,” she said.
The boy’s mother has since uploaded a video, in which she hints that her son is back home, ‘where he belongs’.