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OPP officer visits single mother at residence over TikTok put up
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Printed Aug 02, 2024 • Final up to date Aug 02, 2024 • 4 minute learn
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Seaside at Wasaga Seaside Provincial Park in Fall 2023. Photograph by Wasaga Seaside Provincial Park /Instagram
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It wasn’t the thought police knocking on Natasha’s door.
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It was truly an Ontario Provincial Police officer.
If George Orwell had written his well-known Nineteen Eighty-4 novel in 2024, maybe he might have set his dystopian panorama in Wasaga Seaside.
Natasha, a TikTok contributor who goes by identify Natty Lynn on-line, may very well be the protagonist as a substitute of Winston Smith.
“Somebody called in about somebody posting things on TikTok about East Indians defecating on the beach,” she recalled the very well mannered cop telling her after she answered the door.
Beachgoers at Wasaga Seaside Provincial Park. Photograph by Wasaga Seaside Provincial Park /Instagram
He was not there for a home assault or a housebreaking or lacking baby or medical emergency.
No, the OPP have been there to speak to a prole a few social media put up.
Natasha did put up a sequence of movies warning folks taking their kids to the seashores at Wasaga that she alleged some folks have been utilizing tents to hide going to the lavatory and later burying the human waste within the sand.
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However the reference to immigrants, not locals, being behind this obtained some backs up — together with Wasaga Seaside Mayor Brian Smith.
“The Town of Wasaga Beach takes all resident and visitor feedback seriously,” Smith stated in a press release posted to the city’s web site final month.
“However, we reject the premise of complaints that lack evidence and promote misinformation … The Town of Wasaga Beach is proud to be home to the world’s longest freshwater beach — one of the cleanest, safest, and most beautiful beaches in the world” and “the town has received no evidence — from residents, visitors or the Ontario government — to verify that any undesirable, unsanitary behaviour has occurred on the beach areas that make up Wasaga Beach Provincial Park.”
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Wasaga Seaside resident Natasha shared movies to TikTok about her issues over attainable unsanitary behaviour on the seashore. Photograph by @itsnattylxnn2.0 /TikTok
TikTok shut down the movies and Natty Lynn’s account, which had tens of hundreds of views after some expressed issues on-line of discrimination at play. It’s one thing the mother, who says she is of aboriginal heritage and has a toddler of Indian heritage, vehemently denies.
What appeared uncommon was police coming to her home to handle the declare. Applicable response or a boundary overstep? Large Brother was not simply on the door however inside a girl’s residence, to not lay charges however to supply recommendation on what to say and never say when posting to public platforms.
“I was told to change the way I say things,” stated Natasha. “I felt like they were trying to intimidate me.”
By no means in 1,000,000 years, stated the one mom of young children, did she ever suppose she would find yourself crossing the Ministry of Fact to a degree the place they might dispatch the OPP.
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Wasaga Seaside resident Natasha shared movies to TikTok about her issues over attainable unsanitary behaviour on the seashore. Photograph by @itsnattylxnn2.0 /TikTok
“I was shocked,” she instructed the Ontario Chronicle.
It’s not unprecedented in Ontario. However it’s nonetheless stunning to see.
As Winston Smith was afraid to jot down his ideas in his diary for concern of reprisal, Natasha bumped into the authorities for her video diary.
“I feel like that was the warning,” she stated.
The OPP haven’t but responded to a request for remark.
An OPP officer got here to the door of a Wasaga Seaside resident who shared movies warning folks of the attainable unsanitary behaviour on the seashore. Photograph by @itsnattylxnn2.0 /TikTok
However in a separate video, recorded by Natasha, the OPP officer, who stated “I personally have not had any calls from this kind of behaviour on the beach” and “I am not here to lecture you, not here to condemn you” and prompt on the subject of folks on the seashore “don’t confront them, whoever is doing it … white black or any colour.”
The officer added “maybe don’t note a particular race” and if folks see something like that “maybe encourage people to call bylaw.”
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For her half, Natasha made it clear to the officer she meant no hurt and was merely making an attempt to guard households from any potential sanitary issues.
“I wasn’t being racist,” she is heard telling the officer. “My daughter is Indian; my baby father is Indian.”
The larger challenge is whether or not or not there may be any credence to folks going to the lavatory on the seashore and whether or not this was a matter requiring police to attend her residence and provide options on on-line conduct.
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The officer, who stated he hadn’t seen her TikTok postings, was actually skilled, respectful, variety and understanding. Looks like a very good man. Natasha additionally famous that. However ought to this have been a police matter is the query. There isn’t a simple reply and totally different, legitimate views.
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My opinion is that if there is no such thing as a risk to anybody and no hate crime directed towards a person, the police have extra pressing calls to take care of. I felt for this officer who was doing his finest as a result of he shouldn’t be requested to mediate one thing like this. Police should not social media babysitters. I felt the identical approach in 2022 when a girl I wrote about was visited by an OPP officer on her farm after social media postings speaking about an upcoming COVID-19 pandemic lockdown protest.
In that case, it had a pre-crime really feel to it — successfully a warning to say Large Brother is watching and censoring.
Natasha tells the Ontario Chronicle whereas she’s obtained some threats and has not been sleeping at night time, issues are beginning to brighten with folks thanking her for elevating an necessary well being and security challenge and that TikTok has already taken her out of social media jail and restored her account.
As Orwell wrote of Winston Smith, “he had won the victory over himself.”
The perfect factor the mayor, OPP and Natasha can do is bury this entire chapter within the sand and head to that tremendous seashore with classes discovered and no exhausting emotions.
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