Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Social media giant apologises for error Mum’s fundraising blocked by Tiktok
‘It is just gutting. Having to find thousands every month is a huge commitment’
A social media account generating much-needed cash to buy medicinal cannabis for a severely epileptic girl has been mistakenly banned by Tiktok three times.
The video-sharing giant has apologised to Aylesham’s Emma Appleby - whose daughter Teagan suffered up to 300 seizures a day before taking the pricey drugs - for the latest blunder at the weekend.
The mum realised on Sunday morning that her page, @Helpforteagan, had been taken down overnight, shortly after it had been reinstated following a similar suspension during a 16-hour fundraising push the day before.
Mrs Appleby told the Gazette: “It is just gutting. Having to find thousands every month is a huge commitment and it is only made possible by social media and being able to react.
“I was only browsing and watching live videos when I got a notification the account had been suspended.
“Events were running from
8am [Saturday] until midnight, and while we could use Instagram and Facebook, it is the video sharing that people like the most.”
The suspensions at the weekend come after the account was mistakenly taken down for the first time earlier this month, before being swiftly reinstated.
Mrs Appleby uses the page to help her find the £2,000 a month needed to pay for her daughter’s medicine, which is not available on the NHS.
Teagan, who is now 12, suffers from a rare genetic condition called Idic(15).
It meant the youngster suffered from hundreds of seizures every 24 hours. But since switching medication, her parents say she now suffers fewer than 10 each day.
Following the latest suspension, a spokesman for Tiktok admitted the company’s team had again made an error.
The firm restored the account, making it visible to others once again.
“We are sorry that @Helpforteagan was mistakenly banned,” the spokesman said.
“We’re open about the fact that we don’t always get every decision right, which is why we continue to invest in our safety operations.”