TIKTOK, BOOM from “Coded Bias” filmmaker Shalini Kantayya, examines the power and complexity of technology through the lens of one of the most influential platforms of the contemporary social media landscape, TikTok. Featuring a cast of Gen Z influencers and experts, this film dissects TikTok balancing a genuine interest in the community and its innovative mechanics with healthy skepticism.
Tune in Mon, Oct. 24 at 9pm on the WSIU stations: WSIU 8.1, WUSI 16.1, WSEC 14.1, WQEC 27.1 and WMEC 22.2 or access the WSIU local broadcast livestream online at pbs.org or via the PBS Video app. Watch with WSIU Passport.
About the Episode
The Sundance favorite dissects the platform along myriad cross sections—algorithmic, socio-political, economic, and cultural—to explore its impact. A cast of Gen Z subjects, helmed by influencer Feroza Aziz, is central to the film, balancing a genuine interest in the TikTok community and its innovative mechanics with a healthy skepticism around the security issues, global political challenges, and racial biases behind the platform.
About Independent Lens
Independent Lens is an Emmy® Award-winning weekly series, airing on PBS Monday nights at 9pm (CST). The acclaimed series, with Lois Vossen as executive producer, features documentaries united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement, and unflinching visions of independent filmmakers.
For two decades, Independent Lens has delivered timely and engaging films that magnify the greatest topics and issues affecting the U.S. and beyond. Many of these documentaries and docuseries are co-funded or co-produced by ITVS, the leading documentary co-producer and distributor for public media that also helms the series. Most recently, Independent Lens published its first Stories for Justice Impact Report, revealing how documentaries may move the needle on criminal justice issues. Through its Stories for Justice initiative, which launched in 2019, INDEPENDENT LENS has partnered with 48 independent filmmakers to date, producing films and docuseries on racial inequities in systems across America. By measuring audience engagement via DocSCALE, a tool created by ITVS, it was able to measure the direct impact these films had on audiences watching. Future Stories for Justice films in the upcoming season will be announced at a later date.
