A Florida teenager rose to fame on TikTok with her ‘sexualized’ dancing videos aged just 15 – but her mother says that she’s proud of her daughter’s achievements.
Roselie Arritola, who goes by Jenny Popach on TikTok, is one of multiple children whose risque content has sparked internal strife at the social media giant over whether to censor them, according to Bloomberg.
An ex-CEO of the social media firm, Alex Zhu, said he felt it was ‘creepy’ for users to be fed clips of young girls under the age of 18 dancing provocatively and was horrified by their proliferation, it has been claimed.
Arritola, who’s now 16-year-old, has 7 million followers and regularly shocks her fans with footage of her twerking in bikinis and body rolling in hot pants – as well as lip-syncing to suggestive rap songs. She who lives in a mobile home with her parents and siblings near Orlando.
Her mother Maria Ulacia, laughed at the idea that she was ‘pimping’ her daughter out, with the family being kicked out of the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando because her followers called and said she was being ‘sex-trafficked by her mom’.
Ulacia, a mother of six, swigged purple gin from a Styrofoam cup during an early-afternoon interview with Bloomberg about her daughter’s stardom – saying ‘we loved it – we loved the attention.’
Roselie Arritola, who goes by Jenny Popach on TikTok, has sparked a row over whether the social media giant should censor her videos
She added: ‘I knew I’d be famous one day. I believe in destiny, and I believe in manifestation, and I believe Roselie is that.’
Her father, Jorge, said that he is ‘proud’ of his daughter and occasionally likes to appear in the videos to remind people that there ‘is a father there’.
TikTok has a trust and safety team that reportedly ‘don’t know what to do’ with the teenager who is posting risqué content.
Her account was deactivated in January for violating community guidelines, which appeared to specifically relate to the banning of minors implying participation in sexual activity.
This includes a minor wearing minimal clothing, lip-syncing to sexually explicit song lyrics or performing dance moves such as twerking, breast shaking or pelvic thrusting.
Sexualized dancing is almost entirely what Arritola does, with her account being reactivated after just two weeks.
The now 16-year-old has 7 million followers and regularly shocks her fans with footage of her twerking in bikinis and body rolling in hot pants – as well as lip-syncing to suggestive rap songs
Her mother Maria Ulacia, laughed at the idea that she was ‘pimping’ her daughter out, with the family being kicked out of the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando because her followers called and said she was being ‘sex trafficked by her mom’
In May her account was shut down and reinstated again, with her videos being removed in September and she was blocked from posting for a few weeks.
The second time the account was shut down, the family calculated that it cost them $8,000 in brand deals.
Ulacia took her daughter to Los Angeles, where they stood outside TikTok headquarters and begged a security guard for help restoring the account.
Her mother added: ‘Every TikToker has their own niche. My daughter has one, and if she leans away from that she won’t get the same amount of views..
‘Hers is dancing but that gets a little boring after a while. And you can’t be boring, you know what I mean?
‘We post videos that contain shock value to attract viewers and attention, giving the audience something to talk about.’
Her account was deactivated in January for violating community guidelines, which appeared to specifically relate to the banning of minors implying participation in sexual activity
Ex-CEO of the social media Alex Zhu (pictured) said he felt it was ‘creepy’ for men to be fed that kind of content of young girls under the age of 18 dancing provocatively
She also claims that the parents complaining about her parenting are just jealous, adding: ‘They know their husbands are perving at her.’
The mother claims that she is setting aside a portion of Arritola’s TikTok earnings in a trust account she’ll have access to when she’s 18, and that she’s supporting her career ambitions
About 70 per cent of US teens from age 13 to 17 are on TikTok, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey, and 1 in 6 say they use it ‘almost constantly.’
Indiana’s attorney general last week sued the company, claiming it is a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ that exposes children to harmful content.
TikTok states that they removed more than 200 million videos in the first half of the year, with 40 per cent being for violating child-safety rules.
In May her account was shut down and reinstated again, with her videos being removed in September and she was blocked from posting for a few weeks. The second time the account was shut down, the family calculated that it cost them $8,000 in brand deals
Julie de Bailliencourt, TikTok’s global head of product policy, said: ‘The challenge is our work is never over. There is no finish line.’
In February, the company said that they would place new restrictions on ‘overtly sexually suggestive’ content and that those under 15 wouldn’t be able to appear on the For You page.
A former employee told Bloomberg that he wanted TikTok to hire a child psychologist and tweak the algorithm to make it safer for young users and quit when they refused.
Alex Zhu, TikTok’s chief executive officer in 2020 and the former co-CEO of Musical.ly also reportedly told staff that he was ’embarrassed’ by the number of young girls dancing in a sexualized way – calling it ‘creepy’ that adult men were fed those clips.
Arritola claims that she is just a ‘normal girl just going through life on social media’, filming videos in swanky locations and doing a few hours of online school
Ulacia took her daughter to Los Angeles, where they stood outside TikTok headquarters and begged a security guard for help restoring the account
Arritola claims that she is just a ‘normal girl just going through life on social media’, filming videos in swanky locations and doing a few hours of online school.
She defended her content, saying: ‘I’m not on a pole, like, strip-dancing, why should I not be doing something that is so normal to teenagers because the weirdo in the corner is watching me with provocative thoughts? Why should I leave?
‘That’s not getting rid of the perverted men. If you don’t have haters, you ain’t poppin’.
The teenager also denies that she is in danger, and laughed at the idea that she needed to eb rescued or that her parents are forcing her to perform.
TikTok says it reports any material it encounters that qualifies as child sexual abuse and any supporting evidence found on its app to legal authorities and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
DailyMail.com reached out to TikTok for a comment.
