The rise of social media has changed the lives of almost everyone on the planet. Most of us use it to scroll through various forms of entertainment, TikTok personality Kevin G uses his as a means to experience a world he struggles to be a part of.

Who is Kevin G?

Kevin Gabor, AKA @K3vin_G is an 11 year old TikTok personality famous for his rendition of Post Malone’s “Sunflower,” from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse and a subsequent scandal that resulted in TikTok banning his channel.

Kevin, who is located in Romania, suffers from a genetic defect called Osteogenesis Imperfecta. The TikToker refers to his condition as “brittle bone disease,” the same disease that the indomitable Mr. Glass has in Unbreakable. The disease keeps his bones from hardening as they should, and makes them much more prone to breaking than the average 11-year-old. This, of course, limits Kevin’s day-to-day activities.

The young creator was very open about his struggles, and used TikTok to help connect him with people and opportunities he might otherwise have missed out on. It was partially due to his disease that Kevin was targeted by trolls, who believed he was lying about the severity of his genetic disorder.

Other users viewed his content as something driven by his parents, suggesting that his they were exploiting him for clout or for monetary reasons – the family is actively seeking donations to help with the tremendous cost of Kevin’s procedures and therapies. Some viewers saw his reaction video to his ban as distasteful, and felt that his parent’s shouldn’t have posted the footage of the 11-year-old’s emotional response to his online harassment.

Despite a large portion of the TikTok community rallying behind him, Kevin was banned from the app, and his many videos deleted. “Thank you for ruining this,” he responded to those who orchestrated his abrupt removal. The young creator’s account was managed by his parents, and didn’t violate any terms and conditions of the app.

The takedown highlights a persistent problem on the app, one that creators have been trying to force the company to take note of. Regardless of follower count or creator content, it’s relatively easy for trolls to get creators banned through mass reporting. While creators can file an appeal, it can take 90 days for the company to respond. The process starts over with each ban.

It’s not all doom and gloom for the Romanian creator. Just a few days after his account’s unceremonious termination, Kevin started a new channel with the support of his parents. His father, Istvan Gabor, is frequently seen in his videos, and has an active presence on his Instagram account.

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