Does TikTok Censor Content Critical of China? CNN Investigates (cnn.com) 97
Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland summarizes a video report from CNN:
: CNN anchor Jake Tapper interviewed TikTok's head of public policy last year, asking if they censored content critical of the Chinese party. "We do not censor content on behalf of any government," the spokesperson answered.
But this week CNN reviewed data the total number of hashtags on both Instagram and on TikTok for topics that might be embarrassing to the Chinese government — and found stark differences.
— Hashtag #Uyghurs appears in 10.4X more posts on Instagram than on TikTok.
— Hashtag #Tiananmen (referencing the 1989 pro-democracy protests) is 153 more likely to appear on Instagram than on TikTok.
"So yes, the content exists on TikTok, but there's far less of it on TikTok than on other social media apps," CNN's Tapper says. "And that seems very convenient for the Chinese Communist Party."
But this week CNN reviewed data the total number of hashtags on both Instagram and on TikTok for topics that might be embarrassing to the Chinese government — and found stark differences.
— Hashtag #Uyghurs appears in 10.4X more posts on Instagram than on TikTok.
— Hashtag #Tiananmen (referencing the 1989 pro-democracy protests) is 153 more likely to appear on Instagram than on TikTok.
"So yes, the content exists on TikTok, but there's far less of it on TikTok than on other social media apps," CNN's Tapper says. "And that seems very convenient for the Chinese Communist Party."
Easy enough to figure out (Score:4)
Just post your own critical content and see if it lasts.
You need a 'study'?
Re:Easy enough to figure out (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's be honest. People on TikTok likely self-censor themselves, or use coded language after they're made aware of what shadowbans them. Remember the 90's with "warez" / "w4r3z" and various other ways done to intentionally work around spooks?
At the end of the day, most people on TikTok only care about clout, and they know that if they post anything critical of China, the TikTok Algorithm will bury their entire channel, not just that post. So they're less likely to mention Taiwan. Because gezus christ PRC chinese nationals act like total morons the second you say Taiwan.
Re:Easy enough to figure out (Score:4, Interesting)
>People on TikTok likely self-censor themselves
I think this is the most likely explanation, but I'll add to it.
CNN's hypothesis isn't totally garbage, but there's just other reasons besides direct censorship that there would be less of it.
-If you go on TikTok and have some anti-CPC rant, you probably post it somewhere else and then refer to it, and then see if the reference gets yanked.
-People who have these opinions are less likely to go to the ONE social media platform that has ties to a group that they disapprove of.
-There's a bit of a generational divide, with people who are more critical of China tending to be a bit older. This alone could explain the difference really.
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Came here to point out that second part. I'd be surprised if your average Tiktokker even know what #Tiananmen means.
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That's certainly how it works on YouTube. People know to avoid words like suicide, COVID, rape, and other terms that will get them demonetized. They have to avoid showing it as text as well, because YouTube does OCR on the videos.
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Demonetization is not the same as censorship.
I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death my right not to have to pay you to say it.
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The GP was talking about self censorship, people not saying things because they know it will affect the reach of their video and their income.
Oh yeah, it's not just monetization, it makes the video lower ranked in search results and not appear in various auto-generated feeds like the home screen. Even people who don't care about the money often do care about reach.
Re:Easy enough to figure out (Score:4, Insightful)
And algorithmically assigned lower reach is a form of censorship.
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If we don't talk about it, it won't happen!
Amazing how people seem to really believe that and yet it's far from true. The more information people have on a topic, the better choices then can make.
Apparently teen suicide is up and even more so amongst teen girls. The solution? Don't talk about suicide at school! /facepalm
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It's YouTube, their only concern is that advertisers don't want to be next to such videos. That and that they want new users to have a good experience, not get thrown in at the deep end.
It's not the worst plan ever. Twitter is proving that.
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Ahh that makes sense. The whole point of youtube after all is to generate ad revenue and anything else anyone gains from the platform truly is incidental.
It's still sad because hiding information isn't serving the interest of the community at all. Trying to tell teens not to talk about something and sending them off to the Internet to find that information is really misguided.
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You would need some kind of public service mandate to deal with that, but even then it would be difficult to do anything about advertisers.
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Maybe they’ve drunk the coolaid, maybe not. Either way, they’re NOT
It's because (Score:2)
You can't do a 10 second dance about Uyghurs and the Tiananmen Square massacre. Just isn't catchy. Photos are normal and expected on Instagram, so you might see a lot of poster campaigns for political issues. If people on TikTok see a still image they swipe up. It's a headwind.
Compare TikTok in the US and in China (Score:2)
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First you have to establish that the content to be posted is actually critical, and not just meandering pointless bullshit that gets filtered because of disinterest.
Other reasons? (Score:5, Insightful)
Couldn't it also simply be because the Tik Tok users are a different category of people? Isn't TikTok mainly used by kids and teenagers who would never have heard of Tiananmen or Uyghurs, while Instagram may have a wider range of users?
(Just asking. I use neither of those and have no idea)
Re:Other reasons? (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't underestimate kids. They aren't total idiots.
Re:Other reasons? (Score:4, Funny)
Watch the Tik-Tok videos, and you likely will change your mind on that.
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Watch the Tik-Tok videos, and you likely will change your mind on that.
Sampling error. The TikTok videos showing a group of kids who wired up an ESP32 micro-controller to various sensors to create a weather station, and then wrote an app on their smartphone to connect to it wirelessly isn't promoted heavily in the US so it gets fewer views. In China it gets heavily promoted on TikTok.
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Don't underestimate kids. They aren't total idiots.
Many of us remember that from childhood
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OK, to all the kids who upvoted me, I did add the word "total" strategically.
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Yea, I was thinking that this was more likely something like Russia just having a different propaganda set list for different countries.
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That was my first thought, too.
I think of Instagram and Tik-Tok as more lighthearted social media sites. I don't think many people go there to discuss politics and human rights.
Re:Other reasons? (Score:4, Insightful)
> I think of Instagram and Tik-Tok as more lighthearted social media sites. I don't think many people go there to discuss politics and human rights.
My sarcasm detector is probably broken, but just in case - that's where most of the USA Pro-Palestine sentiment is fostered and protests coordinated among Zoomers.
Go to Twitter and you'll see more both-sides-ing and steelmanning.
Instagram is more "look at me at the protest!" which has a small amount of peer-pressure value.
Political parties active in hiring influencers (Score:2)
I think of Instagram and Tik-Tok as more lighthearted social media sites. I don't think many people go there to discuss politics and human rights.
TikTok is where the young are learning their politics, and history, and the concept of human rights. Hence the political parties investing so heavily in TikToc influencers to spread the respective party propoganda.
Deeply flawed analysis? (Score:2)
Instagram has also been around since 2010.
There's not a lot of insight into the data collected and analyzed. Their analysis ontology could be deeply flawed. I wouldn't put it past them to put out baked results if they don't try to compare similar considerations including platform adoption vs demographic.
User sentiment also might be an issue. Where Tiktok has a sister app/site Douyin but when compared to Facebook/Instagram, they're both banned in China.
There're a lot of variables to consider and without a
Yes, they are ignorant, goal is to keep them so (Score:2)
Couldn't it also simply be because the Tik Tok users are a different category of people? Isn't TikTok mainly used by kids and teenagers who would never have heard of Tiananmen or Uyghurs
Which is the point, keeping them in that state. And keeping them in the state of never hearing about Palestine before the current Israeli invasion.
while Instagram may have a wider range of users
Well older users who may or may not have noticed something while alive all those years. Which is why the kids must be taught not to trust them.
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Invasion? I think "counter attack" is a better phrase. I agree with everything else you say. I've made damned sure my teen has fully absorbed the idea that social media is full of lying agenda driven scumbags who never have her best interests in mind.
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Invasion? I think "counter attack" is a better phrase.
I think both phrases work in this context. Invasions can be entirely justified.
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Couldn't it also simply be because the Tik Tok users are a different category of people? Isn't TikTok mainly used by kids and teenagers who would never have heard of Tiananmen or Uyghurs, while Instagram may have a wider range of users? (Just asking. I use neither of those and have no idea)
That's the problem with this kind of non-scientific analysis. There are better ways to determine this. Some ideas:
Pick some topics that are critical of other governments as a control, and compare the results.
Create some accounts and post content that is critical of China on various platforms and see how much interaction they receive.
The methods CNN used don't prove anything.
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Definitely different demographics. My 10 yo daughter and her friends, they are all on TikTok and YouTube but NOT on Instagram, Twitter of Facebook. They definitely have no idea about Tiananmen or Uyghurs. Also, I know a lot of old people who are on TikTok exclusively for stupid laughs, they take their fake news (5G conspiration, COVID denial and such) from Facebook.
not a denial (Score:3)
"We do not censor content on behalf of any government"
Note that this is NOT a denial. Also, what's the definition of "content"? Or "censor"?
It's as much a free speech platform as Twitter is, though.
Re:not a denial (Score:4, Interesting)
I'll feed the troll.
Also, what's the definition of "content"?
*Content*
On June 4th, 1989, the Chinese military used tanks and military personnel to crush a student-led peaceful demonstration in Tiananmen Square. Hundreds of people were gunned down and killed, many run over with tanks, while hundreds of others were arrested and have never been heard from since.
*Censor*
This statement cannot be found or shared on TikTok
It's as much a free speech platform as Twitter is, though
Twitter is not a free speech platform. The site routinely blocks comments which annoy Musk such as this one [imgur.com], or when directed to do so by a government [imgur.com].
Re: not a denial (Score:1)
Yeah, it's a bollocks take on what happened, but that is beside the point. This isn't about truth at all. This is literally about the freedom to lie and make stuff up.
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"We do not censor content on behalf of any government"
Note that this is NOT a denial. Also, what's the definition of "content"? Or "censor"?
It's as much a free speech platform as Twitter is, though.
Are there any Chinese companies that publicly acknowledge censoring content on behalf of the Chinese government? Don't all of them publicly say that they are doing so out of their own sense of care for the public good? That is, pointing a finger at the Chinese government is likely as unhealthy as not censoring content in the first place.
TikTok is really good (Score:2)
Censorship likely, but some selection bias too. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Stop getting your news from Hamas.
Hey how bout that Israeli bomb that blew up 500 people ina hospital which turned out not to be Israeli or 500 people and hit a parking lot and was fired by Palestinians.
Or hey we need a cease fire! Just like we had on October 6th... oh wait, I can't remember why or how that cease fire ended.
Can you fill me in on what happened October 7th to end the long standing cease fire?
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Re: Whataboutism, if you have any facts that refute what I've said, bring them on. The Washington-Tel Aviv talking points you're rattling off are simply misdirection. The international community has already condemned
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Your heroic Palestinian freedom fighters filmed their own mass gang rapes and slaughter of Israeli women and children.
Where is the film of the war crimes you claim the IDF is committing?
We know Hamas had a pile of GoPros for their rape n slaughter on October 7th. Let's see their videos of the IDF raping Palestinian women and using children as human shields in combat.
You are making up horrendous crimes the IDF didn't commit while Hamas filmed theirs for us to see.
Pics or it didn't happen, dude.
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Pics or it didn't happen.
If they had film of any of those claims they'd have plastered it all over the net within the hour.
*crickets*
They had no problem filming their mass gang rape and murder spree.
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You're an AC. I don't care what you're referring to. If you have something to say then say it without slapping the troll button. The moment you post as AC your burden skyrockets. You get negative credit for intellectual honesty.
Bunny posted nonsense about IDF war crimes with no evidence. I asked for evidence. Twice now. Crickets. You joined in anonymously to troll about some other unrelated irrelevant thing not worth my time to go back to look at because you're an AC and therefore a troll.
Start your
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> You're an AC. I don't care what you're referring to. If you have something to say then say it without slapping the troll button. The moment you post as AC your burden skyrockets. You get negative credit for intellectual honesty.
I really don't understand how posting Anonymously or with a pseudonym makes a difference. I've always found it more than worthwhile and just as important to respond to both, though maybe for slightly different reasons.
> Bunny posted nonsense about IDF war crimes with no evid
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More whataboutism & misdirection. No real arguments.
Also, you're denying reports from independent organisations that are there on the ground personally witnessing the carnage. Also those gathering personal testimonies from recently released victims, children & adults, from IDF detention facilities.
The facts I posted remain unchallenged, as usual.
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Re: Palestinians vs. Uyghurs (Score:1)
The minorities in China are the privileged one, not the Han majority. The minorities weren't subject to the one child policy, for example, and get preferential entry into universities and schools.
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Re: Palestinians vs. Uyghurs (Score:1)
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Re: Palestinians vs. Uyghurs (Score:1)
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Re: Palestinians vs. Uyghurs (Score:1)
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Ok, then let Israel do what China is doing - reoccupy Gaza and West bank and send Palestinians to forcible reeducation camps where they are also "encouraged" to abandon Islamic traditions and undergo permanent birth control. If Israel does what China, or Russia, or India or US does in similar situations, would you consider them to be Ok? If not, why do you think a country with smaller population than New York City can do better than superpowers with abundant manpower and resources?
Open algorithms (Score:3)
The idea of algorithms as some kind of trade secret is bullshit. It's gotta be to avoid scrutiny & to serve ulterior motives, secretive clients, etc.. You know, things that are typically against the public interest. These platforms make a lot of money by allegedly deliberately misleading the public in the name of generating more ad revenue. This kind of mass manipulation needs to be made transparent so that they can't get away with it.
Put their live algorithms in a public Git repository so that there's a record of every time they push an update, & when & where it happened & to whom. Then we'll have the evidence to make well-informed decisions about manipulation, deception, & misleading the public. If they're caught pushing fake algorithms into the Git repo, you cut off their servers until they can successfully petition a court to show that they've made the necessary amendments to their platform. That should take at least a few days of lost revenue & be a strong enough incentive not to cheat.
Propaganda (Score:2)
Nobody cares. (Score:2)
Censor. Don't censor.
Nobody cares. It is stull a turd, no matter how you polish it.
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It matters because if you can influence how an entire generation of children see the world you can control their country's future behavior.
Betteridge's Law of Headlines (Score:3)
Here we have a counter-example.
Of course it's censored. What are you fscking stupid?
CNN: "Hey, folks, did you know the first amendment to the US Constitution does NOT apply to China? Huh? Didja? Please click on our link. Pleeeaaase."
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> CNN: "Hey, folks, did you know the first amendment to the US Constitution does NOT apply to China? Huh? Didja? Please click on our link. Pleeeaaase."
This is to fundamentally misunderstand America.
The Constitution presupposes that free speech is an inherent right, endowed by Nature's Creator and the American culture values it above most other principles.
To that end, the document authorizing a government, by the People, makes explicit that the Government has no authority to restrict that right - it is no
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in the US paradigm, individual rights are not "granted" to you by the government. In our paradigm, individual rights are an attribute of the individual. Individual rights exist whether someone recognizes them or not. If someone fails to recognize those rights, that is their error.
That is the US way of looking at things. It's not true for everyone.
The US paradigm is one of the most extreme examples of placing the individual ahead of the group.
We are an outlier.
For us to shout that our paradigm is the ONL
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As an American I 'should' find censorship by GOVERNMENTS of their people repugnant. I understand there are different cultures and have had the benefit of living and working in other countries, quite a lot, but the truths contained in the Constitution and Bill of Rights I believe SHOULD apply to all people, everywhere. Not those articles in the Bill of Rights which have been superceded or revoked (like persons of Native American Descent or African descent count as some portion of a human) or that c
Yep! (Score:2)
Absolutely, directly and indirectly through setting the right motivation through money and taking the carrot away from non-compliant busy bodies.
They even go a step further, they do not expose their glorious population to the Western TikTok, they keep them locked on a special Chinese version with very different content. Almost as if the Western version contains content they only want to expose enemies to.
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They even go a step further, they do not expose their glorious population to the Western TikTok, they keep them locked on a special Chinese version with very different content.
Aren't you arguing for the other team here?
They are certainly censoring the special Chinese version of TikTok. But don't allow the other version because they can't censor it enough. Same reason all the other ones are banned.
Almost as if the Western version contains content they only want to expose enemies to.
Yes, because they know it's harmful, like all social media probably is. But "Western TikTok users" can easily create their own harmful content all by themselves. No need for China to do it for them.
CNN inves-- (Score:2)
scrollscrollscroll
It took a team of (Score:2)
“Yes”.
Everyone here can now choke on their handlebar mustache wax to discover that a company owned by an oppressive government engages in censorship. Shocking, I know.
Consider the age of the users (Score:2)
Tiananmen happened decades ago...most of the users weren't even born at the time.
I expect that the CCCP *is* censoring TikTok, but that's not a good example. Uyghurs is a much better one. There are probably others I just haven't paid attention to.
CCP v CCCP (Score:2)
The CCP is the Chinese Communist Party
CCCP is the Russian abbreviation for that 'wonderful country the USSR'
Who cares? (Score:2)
Um. Unsure If Joke But... (Score:2)
Censorship isn't just counting hashtags (Score:3)
Suspiciously lacking... (Score:2)
Recognition that our very own government does this and more to our own citizens all the time. Guess that's the FreeDumb :tm: they keep talking about.