As hundreds of social media users continue to criticise its series of tributes on TikTok, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is today (April 17) denying any suggestion that it is ‘mocking’ disabled athletes. 

With its over 3.3 million followers on TikTok alone, the international federation, which functions as the disabled arm of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has received hundreds of thousands of views for its least watched videos, while others have amassed view totals in the tens of millions.

For weeks, TikTok users reacted in shock to the ‘meme-ified’ videos on the IPC’s verified page—with the controversy going into overdrive over the weekend with new videos which started emerging on Twitter. 

So intense is the backlash, that Twitter and TikTok users alike have labelled the content as ‘offensive’, with calls for the page administrator’s removal growing ever louder. 

One example, posted by the IPC TikTok on February 10, features Jamaica’s gold medal-winning javelin thrower, Alphonso Cunningham, whose participation in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games was seemingly spoofed with the ‘yee’ sound effect by user @sweetbbyjohn. 

WATCH:

@paralympics YAH YEET YAH. #Yeet ♬ yee – Sweet Baby John

In a request for comment on Monday, the IPC directed Our Today to a media-generated official statement which explained that a Paralympian is the main administrator behind its TikTok content. 

Acknowledging the uproar, the IPC further noted that it has taken an “edgy” approach to its social media engagement and assured all posts are “closely monitored”.

The statement in full reads:

“The Paralympics TikTok account is run by a Paralympian who fully understands disability. We have created a strong following through edgy and unique content that allows us to educate an audience who might be less aware of Paralympic sport and the achievements of our athletes. We appreciate that not everyone will like the content and sometimes we don’t get it right, but we do closely monitor posts, always converse in reactions to them and learn from all feedback. Importantly, we find that the account allows us to positively engage with younger fans about the power of Para sport as a tool for driving social inclusion.”

British-born page administrator, Richard Fox, broke down the ‘method to the madness’ in an ADWEEK interview published today; contending that his approach was unconventional and against the grain of what he considered “inspiration porn”.

According to him, by pairing game clips with viral sounds, he “wanted to showcase people with disabilities doing sport but in a different way”.

MORE REACTIONS: 

Paralympics, you messy to say the least… https://t.co/RkLhsI3sLR pic.twitter.com/JAxbuYjLX3

— Imani Barbarin, MAGC | Crutches&Spice ♿️ (@Imani_Barbarin) April 17, 2023

Efforts to reach the Jamaica Paralympic Association (JPA) for a comment were unsuccessful up to the of publication.