Did the Daily Mail shut down the TikTok parody account History Mail?
As the US TikTok ban looms, netizens in the States are potentially left with only three days on the app that turned a ‘full bush in a bikini’ Etsy review into a feminist revolution and introduced us to the insane lifestyles of tradwives. It’s all very upsetting. So, on a lighter note, let’s take a look at a social media account that embodies and embraces the spirit of TikTok—a history parody account called @HistoryMail.
Evidently taking inspiration from tabloid publication the Daily Mail, History Mail’s primary purpose is to create funny, sensationalist headlines and short-form news pieces revolving around iconic moments in history—pretty ancient history, in fact. We’re talking about subjects such as the birth of democracy or Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity. Given the success of other satirical publishers such as The Onion, HistoryMail’s popularity makes a lot of sense.
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Alongside the catchy headlines, most of the posts also include a pretty detailed caption. One good example of this is a video on the arrival of the Black Death:
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The caption reads: “Mystery surrounds an Italian port after several ships arrived with their crews found dead under unexplained circumstances. Local authorities have described the scene as ‘disturbing,’ but Pope Clement VI has urged calm, assuring the public that there is ‘no cause for alarm.’”
Now, it should be noted that on Wednesday 15 January 2025, @HistoryMail’s TikTok account was banned, along with its backup account, @HistoryyChronicle. Thankfully, the page still lives on Instagram, with almost 4,000 followers migrating over from the flourishing TikTok account.
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The creators behind History Mail have suggested that Daily Mail is likely the culprit behind the ban, including in the official statement regarding the update: “The sudden takedown has sparked outrage among followers, with reports alleging that the Daily Mail may be behind the move in what some are calling an attack on historical commentary.”
Daily Mail’s TikTok account has 17.8 million followers and is easily the most influential and powerful news publisher on the app. Oh, it also boasts an insane 1.9 billion likes. So, it’s not particularly farfetched to imagine that the broadcaster disliked History Mail and decided to shut down the account. I mean, I think we can all presume the tabloid didn’t love History Mail’s use of its signature blue banner and font.
Even with this setback, History Mail has definitely caught the attention of people online. One user shared the account on LinkedIn, stating: “The best thing to come out of TikTok before the ban is the History Mail parody account. Kudos to whoever spun this up. They started posting yesterday and already have 200k+ followers.”
Comments underneath the user’s shoutout also expressed support and admiration for the creative account. One person wrote “How will we find things like this without TikTok,” while another noted “I love this. It reminds me of my high school journalism class; our project was to create a full newspaper… Could be about anything. And I basically created a Bikini Bottom newspaper, and was able to make up stories relating to SpongeBob lore.”
As silly as it sounds, this is exactly the type of content that attracts people to TikTok and it’ll be an incredible loss if 19 January comes around and a significant portion of users lose access to the ByteDance-owned app.
