TikTok to clamp down on “hateful” content after Andrew Tate investigation
TikTok/UnsplashTikTok has confirmed that it will be clamping down on “misogyny and other hateful ideologies” after an investigation into the platform revealed just how much content that violates guidelines is being promoted.
As TikTok has become a huge part of many social media users’ daily routines, it has become home to a huge amount of content that spans plenty of different interests.
Plenty of the posts uploaded to TikTok are pretty harmless – with things like food recipes, travel ideas, and optical illusion videos regularly going viral in a big way. Though, there is also plenty of content that raises a eyebrows as well.
On August 6th, The Guardian revealed that they had conducted an investigation to see just how much content that is supposed to be banned is actually being promoted through the platform’s algorithm.
TikTok clamping down on hateful content
In their report, The Guardian noted that they’d created a fresh account built for a teenage male and found that they’d been “flooded” with video recommendations centered around Andrew Tate – who has sparked controversy across social media for his ‘misogynistic views’ and takes.
Some of the videos that were being recommended to the TikTok account are in violation of TikTok’s guidelines on hateful idelogy and hateful behaviour. Though, there are plenty of accounts pushing out the content.
As of result, TikTok confirmed that they’ll be looking to set things staright. “Misogyny and other hateful ideologies and behaviours are not tolerated on TikTok, and we are working to review this content and take action against violations of our guidelines,” they told The Guardian. “We continually look to strengthen our policies and enforcement strategies, including adding more safeguards to our recommendation system.”
There are no further details about how they may take attack, but as we’ve seen previously, videos linked to certain hashtags can be wiped in an instant.
It may be a continual battle for TikTok’s admins to strike the content down, so we’ll just have to keep an eye on things.