The Brief: The latest TikTok trend sees creators using  a filter to put closed captioning on their screen that is able to censor any expletives.

Bluesquiggle
DEEP DIVE

TikTokers are cursing at one another in videos. These videos are punctuated by an Instagram filter called Threads. It adds on-screen captions based on what a person is saying. Expletives are represented by a string of symbols.  These videos began appearing on TikTok in late November.

@Yungmiyoshi took the feature for a test run and earned over 3 million likes and 11 million views.

@yungmiyoshi

oh- 🧍🏾‍♂️ #fyp #foryou #bayarea #WhenWeWereYounger #viral #NeedToKnow #PajamaJam

♬ original sound – Vanessa La Verne

She then shared a tutorial, revealing she used Threads by Instagram to get the filter.

Some of the most popular videos using the filter are rants. @Relatableisaiah’s TikTok is an emotionally charged tirade directed at depression.

@relatableisaiah

#fyp #foryou #relatable #depresion

♬ original sound – Isaiah Washington

@Chuefengy’s video was about their FBI agent being useless.

@chuefengy

Somebody tell the government they SLACKING! #single #singlelife #rant #joke #funny #fyp #fypシ #foryou #HomeCooked #BagelBopsContest #CashAppInBio

♬ original sound – Chuefeng Yang

@Notnijheaa’s TikTok is more of a NSFW rant about her attraction to women.

@notnijheaa

♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod