TikTok will also remove posts containing offensive content aimed at the LGBTQ + community
San Francisco, United States:
Video-sharing sensation TikTok said on Wednesday it was cracking down on hateful content, banning anti-Semitic stereotypes and messages of white nationalism.
The broad rules against the promotion of hate ideologies at TikTok include a ban on “disinformation and hurtful stereotypes” about Jewish, Muslim and other communities, the company said in a blog post.
“This includes misinformation about notable Jewish individuals and families who are being used as proxies to spread anti-Semitism,” TikTok said.
The platform has already banned publications denying the Holocaust.
TikTok will also remove posts with offensive content aimed at the LGBTQ + community, including promoting conversion therapy or the notion that sexuality is not innate.
TikTok security teams already tasked with eliminating hate ideologies such as neo-Nazism and white supremacy will now also be content with “neighboring ideologies” such as white nationalism and male supremacy, according to the company.
“As part of our efforts to prevent hate ideologies from taking hold, we will stem the spread of code language and symbols that can normalize hate speech and behavior,” TikTok said.
According to TikTok, teams who enforce content rules are being trained to take into account nuances such as a member of a group stripped of their voting rights using an insult as an empowerment term.
“On the other hand, if an insult is used in a hateful manner, it doesn’t belong to TikTok,” the company said.
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube have stepped up their battles against hate content as social justice protests rock U.S. cities and political rhetoric stokes social divide ahead of the U.S. presidential election of next month.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to ban the Chinese social media giant if he does not cede control of its US activities to a US company by November 12, citing national security concerns.
TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is in talks with Silicon Valley-based Oracle company Oracle and retail giant Walmart over its U.S. operations, which include some 100 million users.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
