TikTok Under Fire: The Allegations of Content Suppression

EXCLUSIVE: As the Trump administration scrambles to keep TikTok legally accessible in the United States, a recent report suggests that the immensely popular app has curtailed content critical of President Donald Trump. This revelation comes from an exclusive report shared with Fox News.

TikTok’s Response to the Allegations

In a counter to the report, TikTok has asserted that it arrived at a misleading conclusion, claiming that the researchers utilized keywords that were subject to additional safety measures due to their association with election misinformation or profanity.

The Report from NCRI

The findings originate from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) at Rutgers University, which unveiled insights into TikTok’s functionality as a significant influence tool, one that is flexible in the realm of partisan politics, yet lacking in transparency and accountability.

Adam Sohn, a board member of NCRI, expressed concerns about TikTok’s content moderation strategies, stating, “What you’re seeing is not sweeping policies around content moderation that can be battle-tested by the public or by researchers. TikTok seems to be just sort of picking and choosing their policies based on political expediency, and that’s a big concern.”

Analyzing TikTok’s Content Moderation

The NCRI focused their analysis on TikTok, X, and Instagram to scrutinize their management of specific hashtags tied to the 2020 election controversies. Findings indicated a clear directive from TikTok’s policy enforcement that led to the suppression of certain content.

Terms such as “#RiggedElection,” “#VoterFraud,” “#StopTheSteal,” and “#StolenElection” yielded no results on TikTok within the U.S. However, altering their location via software to an overseas setting returned video results for these hashtags.

Evidence provided by NCRI highlights a stark disparity in search results. For instance, a Jan. 24 TikTok search for the hashtag “#F***JoeBiden” generated 37,000 results, while “#F***Trump” produced none. Interestingly, Fox News replicated this search three days later and found videos listed under both hashtags.

Concerns Over Political Bias

These discrepancies raise concerns about the potential influence of the Chinese Communist Party on TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance. As Sohn pointed out, there is a fear that they can consistently tweak their algorithms to obfuscate their actions.

TikTok’s Defense and Technical Issues

The company maintains its stance that hashtags associated with the 2020 election controversies have led to the spread of election misinformation, justifying their suppression. Furthermore, TikTok argues that due to profanity in certain anti-Trump and anti-Biden search terms, the application also curtails those results. They also cite ongoing technical issues as a factor in these discrepancies as they work to restore normal operations.

Legal Context and Navigation Challenges

Amidst these allegations, last year, Congress enacted a bipartisan law threatening a ban on TikTok if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, did not divest its ownership by January 19. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court upheld this law. Although ByteDance retains ownership of TikTok, former President Trump signed an executive order delaying the enforcement of this ban for 75 days to negotiate a resolution that would permit the app’s continuation in the U.S.

NCRI’s Conclusions and Allegations of Favoritism

NCRI has produced multiple reports asserting that TikTok’s search algorithm often skews results to favor a positive representation of China’s government. TikTok has vehemently denied these claims, labeling NCRI’s findings as “flawed” and “clearly engineered to reach a false, predetermined conclusion.” Furthermore, the Biden administration’s Justice Department referenced NCRI’s reports in its arguments against the app.

Complexities of Algorithm Management

Experts in cybersecurity express that algorithms governing platforms like TikTok are tightly controlled by their parent companies, making it difficult to assess their functioning. Theresa Payton, a cybersecurity expert and former White House Chief Information Officer, noted, “Doing community management of these vast social media platforms, especially TikTok, is a Herculean task. As they make adjustments to handle capacity and evaluate potential election interference, complications are bound to arise.”

Social Media Moderation: A Double-Edged Sword

Others point out that social media platforms employ significant teams using automated software to manage content on their sites. As Pete Pachal, the Founder of The Media Copilot, remarked, “If someone interprets a piece of content as a violation, it may not align with someone else’s judgment. It all has to line up in a coherent pattern.” He emphasized that NCRI successfully demonstrated a pattern of alleged repression, suggesting that the absence of content in searches is more pronounced in one direction, raising suspicions.

The Path Forward

The future of TikTok in the U.S. remains precarious amidst these allegations, as questions surrounding algorithm bias and content moderation practices take center stage. As debates over censorship, transparency, and the growing influence of social media platforms continue, the delicate balancing act of navigating these challenges becomes increasingly complex.

As stakeholders observe these developments, TikTok faces pressure not only to maintain its user base but also to ensure accountability in its operations and provide clarity on its content management practices. The scrutiny over its handling of politically charged content may serve as a crucial test of social media’s role in a democratic society.