Censorship by TikTok
There is evidence that TikTok has down-weighted the posts of topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party. Topics alleged to have been censored by the platform include the Persecution of Uyghurs in China, the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, the Sino-Indian border dispute, foreign political leaders, LGBTQ+ people, disabled people, and people of African descent. TikTok has also removed or omitted information from its services to comply with company policies, legal demands, and government censorship laws. TikTok's responses to claims of censorship have varied, responding that the platform was attempting to protect users from bullying,[1] arguing that certain instances were the result of human error, and stating that such incidents were the result of algorithmic mistakes.[2]
This article is about censorship by TikTok itself. For censorship of TikTok by governments and organizations, see Censorship of TikTok.Minority groups[edit]
Overview[edit]
According to technology historian Mar Hicks, creators on TikTok feel that they have to be overly cautious about what they post "because the rules change at any given moment [and] there's no transparency".[39] Hicks said that the sudden disappearance of tags, intentional or not, has "incredibly problematic effects and negative effects on communities that are already marginalized and erased".[39] The muddiness around content removal and moderation on TikTok is an ongoing frustration for the app's users.[39] TikTok has community guidelines, but there is no public list of specific words and phrases that are banned, and it is not clear how much moderation is done algorithmically versus by actual people.[39] In instances of protesting against acts of racism and racism as a whole, users have felt that there was a change in the popularity of their content, such as their content not showing up as frequently or even at all.[40]
LGBTQ+ and disabled people[edit]
In 2019, The Guardian reported that TikTok's efforts to provide locally-sensitive moderation had resulted in the removal of content that could be perceived as being positive towards LGBTQ+ people or LGBTQ+ rights (such as same-sex couples holding hands) in countries such as Turkey.[13]
In December 2019, TikTok admitted that it aimed to "reduce bullying" in the comments of videos by artificially reducing the viral potential of videos its algorithm identified as being made by LGBTQ+ people.[1] That same month, the German website Netzpolitik.org reported that TikTok also artificially reduced the viral potential of videos its algorithm identified as being made by "fat people [and] people with facial disfigurement, autism, Down syndrome, [or] disabled people or people with some facial problems". Those affected may not have their video shown outside of their native country or have it show up on the "For You" page, TikTok's personalized algorithmic homepage feed.[1] According to The Verge, some lesbians on TikTok refer to themselves jokingly as "le dolla bean", referring to the spelling of "le$bian" used to avoid TikTok removing the video. Hicks told The Verge that "it became this whole joke because things that have the word 'lesbian' in them were either getting flagged for the deletion or causing the users' accounts to get in trouble".[41]
In 2020, TikTok was accused of censoring transgender users following reports of transgender users having videos being removed or muted. Transgender users on TikTok have complained of censorship after their posts were removed.[42] The BBC reported that the LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall stated that such actions had "sent a damaging message to young trans people using the platform for support". TikTok issued a statement claiming that they "categorically do not remove any content based on expression of gender identity".[43]
In September 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute reported that certain LGBTQ+ hashtags have been restricted in Bosnia, Russia, and Jordan. TikTok admitted restricting hashtags in certain countries, citing local laws for some hashtag restrictions and other hashtags due to being primarily used for pornographic use. TikTok also claimed that some hashtags had been moderated by mistake and the issue subsequently fixed and that some of the hashtags alleged to have been censored had never been used by video creators.[44]
In May 2021, American intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis reported that the "intersex" hashtag had become unavailable on TikTok for the second time. TikTok told The Verge that the tag had been removed by mistake and was subsequently restored in both instances, which led to public speculation about whether the hashtag was censored.[39]
In January 2023, IPVM reported that China's version of TikTok, Douyin, censors pro-LGBTQ+ content, prohibiting "unhealthy and non-mainstream views on marriage and love."[45]