TikTok has lifted its ban and apologized to the American teen whose account was locked following her posted video that criticized the Chinese Government over its treatment of the Uighur Muslims. In relation to the incident, TikTok says it is currently conducting a review on its moderation policies and processes and has plans of publishing its first transparency report in the near future.
Moreover, as reported in The Verge, TikTok, through its blog post, claims that the account of Feroza Aziz, 17 years old, was blocked since she used her previous @getmefmaousplzsir account when she posted a comedic video which involved a photo of Osama bin Laden. The said account was blocked due to the company's policies against imagery related to terroristic personalities.
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More Devices Banned from Using TikTok
Just more than a week after the banning of the US teen, TikTok also banned over 2,400 other devices linked to banned accounts. And, since Aziz's mobile phone was still linked to his old account, TikTok says it also accidentally affected her new @getmefamouspartthree account. This was the account she used when she posted a viral video that, as mentioned, criticized China's treatment of the Muslims.
In addition, as included too in the article The Verge posted, TikTok is blaming a "human moderation error," which saw the video of Aziz removed from the platform a couple of days ago for almost an hour. Before that, the said video was said to still be visible on the popular video-sharing platform where it has been viewed "1.7 times" despite her being blocked from the account that actually posted it. The incident strengthened concerns over ByteDance's (TikTok owner) subservience to Chinese authorities.
TikTok's Involvement in Data Privacy Concern
Earlier on, the American Government opened an inspection on such ties prompted by data privacy concerns and apprehensions that TikTok is controlling the content that's critical of the Chinese Government. However, the company denied the allegations saying they have never been asked or ordered by the Chinese Government to take away any content. And if ever the latter would do so, TikTok said they'd not follow.
Meanwhile, after the unblocking of her account, Aziz took Twitter to air her distrust at the account of TikTok of the events that led to the locking of her account. On her tweet, she said, "Do I believe they took it away because of an unrelated satirical video that was related to a previously deleted account of mine? Right after I finished posting a 3-part video about the Uyghurs? No." Responding to the incident, Tiktok has committed to reviewing both its moderation processes and policies thoroughly. It may also take exemptions in terms of abusive content.
Lastly, after months of rumor about the censorship of TikTok, banning a user right after she expressed criticism of the Chinese administration is said to be, at best, a major unforced mistake. TikTok may have indeed given an explanation for such actions. However, mistakes like these, as observers have it, are not helping the perception of the public, of the firm.
