In an aim to be completely open, TikTok have released their transparency report. Within it, you can see content and adverts that have been pulled down from the platform throughout the past 12 months.
TikTok have released their transparency report, showing adverts and video content that they have removed from their app. More than 5 million adverts have been taken down from the platform in between just April and June alone. It seems certain countries have more videos being removed than others. The data shows, those countries have a much higher amount of hateful, violent, and abusive videos being surfaced.
The US have the highest amount of videos being taken down from the platform. With the size of the US it could be argued this plays a large factor, rather than it being a case of more people just creating hateful videos. Not only are harmful videos removed, but also those with misleading information. People posting videos with ‘facts’ can cause serious issues. Those circulating the videos will believe what has been said. This is a really easy way for incorrect information to get around.
TikTok’s automatic detection program
The platform has noticed 33 new typed of misinformation. They use an automatic detection program to identify this. TikTok can especially be damaging when it comes to big country events such as elections. Currently, the US has midterm elections. There is a serious threat of misinformation spreading and people therefore making decisions based on incorrect ‘facts’ they’ve been told. This could cause the whole election process to be swayed which comes down to an unfair vote and potential backlash.
TikTok have updated their political accounts policies. This includes verifying accounts, monetisation of these profiles and reviewing those who are campaign fundraising. They’ll be disallowing solicitation for campaign fundraising. So, if a video of a politician is asking for donations or trying to bribe an audience in any way, this can be removed. Although a lot of videos have been removed, the platform have made progress. By the time Q2 came to an end, the amount of adverts being removed had dropped.
So, it seems TikTok are moving in the right direction and making progress. The amount of adverts that are harmful or violating the policies have dropped, meaning less have to be removed. It seems TikTok have strengthened their account-level detection strategies. Which means the adverts allowed are being monitored closer than before. This is in their efforts to make the user experience better than it ever has been and keep things moving in the right direction. No one wants to see hateful content on their account, or even adverts that aren’t relevant.
