If you’re not familiar with the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok, then you have clearly been living under a rock. While the app has taken off across the globe, it recently faced increased criticism from many big names. Lizzo recently called out the platform for removing videos of her in bathing suits, while Reddit CEO Steve Huffman called the platform “fundamentally parasitic.” Now, the biggest blow has been dealt after an extensive report from the Intercept made a shocking revelation about how moderators censored certain users.
Internal documents have revealed that TikTok moderators were ordered to suppress videos of people deemed too “ugly, poor, or disabled” in an effort to attract more users to the app. Videos that depict “rural poverty, slums, beer bellies, and crooked smiles” are also pulled. Moderators have also been told to censor political content and to ban users who “harmed ‘national honor.”
https://twitter.com/samfbiddle/status/1239578945994887174?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1239578945994887174&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.complex.com%2Flife%2F2020%2F03%2Ftiktok-moderators-told-to-censor-posts-from-poor-ugly-usersWhen @netzpolitik_org reported on similar guidelines last year, TikTok claimed these rules were an “anti-bullying” measure. They tried to tell us he same thing, despite the obvious, explicit rationale of growing the app. There is ZERO mention of bullying in this doc.
— Sam Biddle (@samfbiddle) March 16, 2020
However, a spokesperson for the company stated that “most of” the guidelines in the documents are “either no longer in use, or in some cases appear to never have been in place.”
Sources with knowledge of TikTok’s extensive censorship efforts have also claimed that “rigid constraints” have been implemented, which is unethical to the brand’s image of self-expression and creativity. Of particular note, moderators are expected to adhere to an unspoken “modesty code,” which has also resulted in the removal of content featuring bikini or swimming suits “outside of a ‘beach or swimming occasion.'”
