TikToks by crime-scene cleaners are gaining millions of views, but the gruesome content has led to backlash and even legal trouble

• Accounts posting crime scene cleanup videos on TikTok are thriving and have millions of followers.
• These accounts often post gory crime scenes despite negative comments and backlash from some viewers.

Videos from professional cleaning companies dealing with the aftermath of a crime scene are reaching millions of followers on TikTok — and raising ethical and legal questions about whether these videos should be allowed on social media platforms at all.

One such cleaning company, Spaulding Decon, is currently at the center of a lawsuit from the widow of a man who died by suicide over a now-deleted video posted to their TikTok account that showed the aftermath of his death.

In her lawsuit, filed this past June, Michelle Lynn Syers, the wife of Thomas Syers, said the company did not seek her consent to film the clean-up of her husband's suicide and only became aware of the video after her children found it online. The filing, seen by Insider, states that her children suffered "mental and emotional distress" from viewing the video.

Syers' lawyer, Paul Fulmer, told Insider, "Our client expected to be treated with respect and dignity. Instead, she alleges that Spaulding Decon exploited her husband's death as clickbait on TikTok and tried to profit from a family's loss.

The company told Insider the suit is "meritless."

Owners argue their content is 'educational' and helps viewers

In her lawsuit, Michelle Syers said that "despite the very private and disturbing nature of what occurred, and without any authorization of any kind," Spaulding Decon "posted videos of the suicide scene and outside of the home on social media, including Tik Tok."

Laura Spaulding, the owner and CEO of Spaulding Decon, denies Syers' claims. The company has locations in 18 states and says it's "the first nationally franchised decontamination service to offer crime scene, hoarding, and meth-lab clean-up" in the US.

Spaulding told Insider the company always seeks consent from family members to film a scene and that the consent can be retracted at any point, which she doesn't view as "a big deal."

Spaulding acknowledges that her company has benefited from the widespread popularity they've received on TikTok — they currently have more than 4.3 million followers on the platform. She told Insider she believes fans of the account have a "general curiosity" about things "no one ever talks about," which is why their videos often get millions of views.

She added that people often respond to the more gruesome scenes. "The gorier, the better," she said, though she added that her videos are "educational."

"We tell them what we're doing, we tell them why we're doing it, and what we use to clean it up," Spaulding said.

"The biggest reason that we started our channel was because the majority of the population had no idea that this service even exists, they think that the police do it. There's also a heavy interest from people in forensics and CSI that really want to see what we do and how we do it," Spaulding said.

Marcell Engel, the crime scene cleaner behind the TikTok account @dertatortreiniger, told Insider that he similarly posts footage from his crime scene clean-ups because he feels it leads people "to think, to act, and perhaps to change something in one's environment" by reflecting on death and the suffering of others.

Under TikTok's community guidelines, "violent or graphic deaths or accidents, dismembered, mutilated, charred, or burned human remains, and gore in which an open wound or injury is the core focus" is not permitted.

However, TikTok's guidelines also permit that "some content that would normally be removed per our Community Guidelines may be in the public interest." In particular, the guidelines note there may be exceptions for "educational, documentary, scientific, artistic, or satirical content, content in fictional or professional settings, counterspeech, or content that otherwise enables individual expression on topics of social importance. To minimize the potentially negative impact of graphic content, we may first include safety measures such as an "opt-in" screen or warning."

Users are also able to mark videos as "not interested," which will avoid similar posts appearing in their feeds. A spokesperson for TikTok told Insider that the app is also rolling out a feature to allow users to filter out videos with words or hashtags they don't want to see, as well as a feature that will allow users to mark videos as not appropriate for users under the age of 18.

Crime survivors and victim advocates believe crime scene clean-up videos are 'disrespectful' and concerning for young viewers

Videos on Spaulding Decon's YouTube channel, which are promoted and cross-posted on their TikTok account, include the titles "Pop Goes the Body," "Melted to the Bed," "Tub with chunks of flesh," "LEFT ALONE TO DIE," and "19 Days of Rotting."

That's led some to believe that Spaulding Decon and other crime scene clean up accounts are exploiting death and murder for profit.

Patricia Wenskunas, founder and CEO of the Crime Survivors Resource Center in Irvine, California, told Insider, "When it comes to media in general, people need training for compassion and sensitivity. When dealing with suicide or murder, I don't think people should be posting it on social media anyway, but especially without consent."

"Those pictures and videos can be out there forever. A family member or loved one can come across those postings which are graphic that they might not have seen," she said, explaining that there needs to be some accountability by the companies and the platforms that allow this content, though she did not specify what that accountability might look like.

Though Spaulding Decon says it seeks consent to film and post various scenes, Wenskunas believes that it is unacceptable to seek a family's consent in the immediate aftermath of a death. "A family would not be able to be in the right mindset to be able to give permission for that in the hours or days after a loved one's death. You're dealing with vulnerable people, and these companies might not understand how gruesome content can affect someone long-term."

Wenskunas said the videos are "disrespectful" and "exploitative," mirroring many comments underneath Spaulding Decon's videos.

"I don't think you should take advantage of a victim or family member for more likes or views or get paid for gruesome content. I don't think that's appropriate. They could create videos that are educational without taking advantage of someone's trauma," she said.

Dr. Doreen Marshall, the vice president of mission engagement at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said crime scene clean-up accounts should be mindful of the harm they're potentially doing.

"Millions of people are impacted by suicide each year and not all will have shared that publicly," she said. "For every person who has commented that the videos are distressing, there are likely many, many others who are negatively impacted and not sharing that."

Jacob Suarez, who is behind the TikTok account and YouTube channel @biggieclean, told Insider he feels like "a lot of people who spend years in this career tend to be more jaded and less empathetic to many of the situations they see."

Suarez's account does not visually document crime scene clean-ups, though he does discuss what he's experienced in some of his clips.

"Obviously, you can't protect everyone and what they see on the internet, but I don't want to contribute to that," he said. "I don't want to be the reason someone gets scarred or traumatized."

Laura Spaulding believes that the responsibility lies "with the parents to not allow their kids to watch this kind of content." She added that they mark all of their content as "mature" and feels that there's nothing the company can do "if a kid is disingenuous with their age and starts watching."

Engel agreed, "Some people have problems with the cruel images... but I think everyone has to decide for themselves what they consume."

But Suarez said he feels clean-up accounts should take "a little bit of personal responsibility" for how their content is consumed. He said accounts that post gruesome images from crime scenes should "be careful with what they post and where that's going to end up."

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.