This article is in partnership with Day Translations.

A new phenomenon started towards the end of January 2025 on TikTok and it comes in many guises:

• #europetiktok
• #eutok
• #eurotok
• #europetok

and probably many more.

#Europetok is a hashtag that thousands of people around Europe have been using on TikTok to connect with each other.

1. When Did #EuropeTok Start?

The answer is very simple: the #EuropeTok movement started as a response to the TikTok ban in the US. Alongside #EuropeTok other regional and global movements started, such as #CommonwealthTok, as a way to discover more localised content and connect with other creators.

For example, #commonwealthtok has 7425 posts, #europetok has 2569 posts, #europetiktok has 145.5k posts and #worldtiktok has 305.7k posts as of late January 2025.

For a few hours on the 19^th January 2025, American creators could not access the TikTok platform and couldn’t post new videos. To quote from The Guardian, TikTok went dark in the States. The app was no longer available in the Apple Store or in Google Play Store in the US because Congress had demanded that the parent company for TikTok, Bytedance, should be sold to a non-Chinese entity but TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew decided to opt for a total US ban instead of selling. This was because of actual commercial, legal and technical limitations: it was simply not possible to do within the imposed time frame.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, people realised that American-led content was dominating the platform, noticing that American content was being prioritised over regional content in For You Pages, which is where you get to see most of the content as you scroll through.

This event sparked constructive debate and a general feeling of wanting to see more of the world as narrated by normal people and not necessarily influencers who may post content primarily to generate revenue.

#EuropeTok also encouraged more people to simply be themselves, without filters, without shouting and eccessive jump cuts and without specific agendas (like selling products), as well as without being bombarded by spam or negative comments (many of which did come from US-based bot accounts). Seeing regular people who are not striving to make viral videos but simply being their authentic selves was welcome by many as a refreshing change. Of course there are many genuine American creators who are not chasing likes and monetisation, and that was clearly stated by many people around the globe, who felt sorry to see them go.

The trend made people focused on being more intentional with their consumption of online content, being more selective about spending time watching videos, choosing those made by people with all their imperfections, and choosing to support small independent businesses in their region. A popular topic of conversation iwas the cost of living crisis and and popular videos were showing other people food prices at the supermarket in different countries and comparing notes about the cost of products.

2. English as a Way To Overcome Language Barriers

There are about 200 languages being spoken in Europe and in the European Union there are 24 official languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.

People whose first language is not English started speaking English during the TikTok US ban as a way to communicate with others around the world. Sometimes English is their second language but more often it is their third or fourth language.

In the comments, viewers asked creators to feel free to express themselves in whichever language they felt more comfortable: English was used as an ice breaker and then once connections were made, creators often alternated posting videos in English and in their native language.

Being exposed to multicultural content is an enriching experience and a new direction for TikTok in Europe and the rest of the world. This could mean moving away from the monopoly of influencer-led content, especially travel content where the same tourist places and restaurants get hyped, often causing problems to local businesses and local communities.

Photo by Olivier Bergeron on Unsplash