TikTok’s moderation guidelines penalized political criticism and ‘controversial topics’
Photo by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images
TikTok creator ByteDance reportedly told moderators to crack down on videos that mention Tiananmen Square, criticize political systems, or promote controversial groups like Falun Gong, among a host of other restrictions. The Guardian obtained leaked documents outlining moderation rules for the popular social video app. The Beijing-based ByteDance says the rules were retired in May, but they could still inflame concerns about TikTok exporting the Chinese government’s censorship policies worldwide.
The Guardian says TikTok moderators were told to flag content based on very general rules that purposely covered specific Chinese censorship concerns, like criticizing government policies. Some sections mentioned specific forbidden topics,...