Free Terio! How the Internet turned a dancing machine into a hilarious campaign against child exploitation

The Internet eats its young. Just ask Terio, the kid who saved Vine.

Like the rest of the world, I stumbled upon him by way of Twitter. Forget what The Washington Post wrote about that song "Versace" by Gwinnett County trio Migos, Terio is the real runaway hit of the summer. The Riverdale resident's dancing snippets became such the rage that he was instantly credited with saving Vine at the time that web pundits were declaring its early death due to Instagram's new video service.

With each new video, his legend grew. Complex interviewed him and his "cousin" Maleek; New York rapper A$AP Ferg promised to come to his birthday party (though he was a no-show); DJ Drama had him at his Atlanta studio and posted a Vine. The adlib "oooooh kill em" was inducted into the pop lexicon. Here was an overweight black first-grader dancing his ass off as if the whole world wasn't watching. There was something innocent about a 6-year-old kid dancing so mannish while dribbling basketballs in the driveway. But something happened in the cyber distance between that driveway and our hard drives.

He became an overnight meme, proving yet again how short the haul is from Internet fame to infamy.

On Monday, Tracy Clayton of the Root reported that a Free Terio campaign had started on Twitter in response to recent Vine videos that showed a reluctant Terio being prodded to dance for the camera despite looking too pooped to pop. When the videos were quickly removed it only seemed to confirm the worst. Terio was being exploited. But by whom? His cousin Maleek, his invisible parents, the Internet?

? ? ?
In a few weeks' time, he went from this:

To dancing in the studio with DJ Drama:

To a charity case:

The backlash was swift. And witty:
Twitter gotta come together and adopt Terio to free the nigglet from the shackles of coonerific oppression. #FreeTerio
- Mobbdeen (@Deen8) August 19, 2013

First day of school is approaching and Terio is posing with a coon that has a Newport pocket. pic.twitter.com/cRrcoGnUJQ
- Higgs Boson (@MatNat_HahEl) August 19, 2013

Suddenly, the catchphrase "oooooh kill em" took on a darker connotation. Like Honey Boo Boo before him and Gary Coleman before her, Terio might be the new poster child for the perils of overexposed youth. But it's also exposed the ugly side of the Internet. Now I'm not here to feign outrage over this thing. Besides, Twitter has already beat me to it. Indeed, the Free Terio campaign seems like the latest way to absolve us of our own guilt...

Over the fake Terio sightings in Popeye's:

And the comical critiques on Terio and Maleek's Vine grind:

In the aftermath, DJ Drama has since apologized for his involvement via Twitter:
"I apologize in partaking in the exploitation of Terio. I was wrong for that..."

In this YouTube footage, titled "TerRio's first interview," it seems clear that there was an incentive to push him to perform:

And "cousin" Maleek pretty much confirmed it in the Complex interview a few weeks ago:

And so, how're you guys related?
MALEEK: That's my lil' cousin.

Is there like, a parent's sister's son or something?
MALEEK: Nah, we like...he like, stay next door to me.

Ah, okay. This interview's gonna go out to a lot of people. Anything you want to tell the world about yourselves?
MALEEK: Ah, let's see....We just trying to get Lil' Terio out here. Terio makes some indiscernable noise in the background. Maleek laughs.

What's next for Terio? Is he gonna to get out there?
MALEEK: You tryin' to get out in the world, Terio? Get your own show? Yeah, he'd like that.

Still, I'm not sure if this is worthy of conviction by public opinion. Imagine what footage of a young Michael Jackson might have looked like when the future King of Pop was a 5-year-old who liked to sing like James Brown in his Gary, Ind. living room. That's not to say that Terio is the next Michael Jackson. (God forbid.) But with a Joe Jackson in his life, maybe he could be.

The whole thing reminds me of that taboo the Native Americans used to have against cameras. They steal your soul, they feared. But what becomes of the thieves behind the camera or the ones reveling over all those stolen moments. While we're busy trying to "Free Terio," we might need to start a campaign to free us all from the shackles of cultural consumption.

Or we can just rewind Terio's best Vines ever and relish the good times.