The owner of a Liverpool tyre firm has had his TikTok account banned after posting "vile and hateful" videos which included racist slurs and derogatory language. Peter Dillon, 40, runs Total Tyres 24/7 Ltd on Regent Street in Vauxhall, and regularly posts videos to his business social media accounts as well as his personal account.
Videos sparked public outrage
The Liverpool ECHO was alerted to Mr Dillon's videos after being contacted by several concerned members of the public, many of whom sent in links and screen recordings. Two of those videos were posted to his personal account within three days of each other, and contained similar language and themes.
In a July 19 TikTok video, Mr Dillon said: "Come out of my house of a morning and it's just p**** on your doorstep." He added: "Every time a car goes past, it's just p***, p***, p***, p*** [...] What the f*** is going on in this country, mate? It's f*****g shocking."
This was followed by another TikTok post on July 22 in which he said: "Isn't it mad, people, right? Like, you come out of your house of a morning, yeah? And then, all of a sudden, there's just a firm of p*** just moved in, miraculously, overnight." He continued: "Then you come out, and it's just [...] a firm of p**** washing their feet in the front garden, in the dish bowl, or in pans or something."
Racist slurs and community backlash
The videos last approximately one minute each, and in total Mr Dillon uses the racist slur 'p***' seven times, and another term with negative connotations towards people with dark skin five times.
The videos were widely shared around social media, with many people condemning the language used by Peter Dillon, including one Facebook post which had the caption: "Can't believe people can be so outright racist online." Responding to that upload, one person wrote: "Seriously though he's disgusting, what are TikTok's community standards like? That needs reporting." Another commenter added: "[Referring to Mr Dillon's videos] What's 'ruckin shocking mate is your p*** poor racist attitude."
Shortly after these posts were published, reviews and comments started to appear on Total Tyres Facebook page and the business's Google reviews page. One of those reviews stated: "Vile openly racist individual."
Business owner's response and account deactivation
The ECHO contacted Mr Dillon to ask about the videos and the content he was sharing. Mr Dillon said he did not accept the word 'p***' was a racist or derogatory term and claimed it was simply short for 'Pakistani'. He also refused to answer any questions about the other term used in his videos, or how he would have known the nationality of people he had seen in the street. Mr Dillon eventually told us he did not wish to comment on the situation.
Mr Dillon's TikTok account was publicly available at midday on August 4, but shortly after the ECHO spoke to him the account was switched to private, and by this morning (August 5), the account appeared to have been deactivated.
TikTok and police response
According to TikTok, and in reference to Mr Dillon's video posts, the social media platform confirmed it does not allow 'hate speech, hateful behaviour, or promotion of hateful ideologies'. The ECHO understands this includes content that attacks people based on 'protected attributes like race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation'. TikTok also confirmed Mr Dillon's personal TikTok account has now been banned for breaching its policies on hate speech.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said it is also aware of Mr Dillon's social media posts, adding: "Merseyside Police will always take allegations of hate crime extremely seriously, and we are reviewing the materials provided. Social media users should be aware that offences committed online, including malicious communications, can and will be investigated. We will do everything within our powers to ensure that those responsible for incidents of hate crime - whether committed in person or online - are dealt with."
