Amidst ongoing negotiations between the Trump administration and TikTok to ensure the app's continued availability in the United States, a new report shared exclusively with Fox News raises concerns about the platform's content moderation practices. The report, from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) at Rutgers University, suggests that TikTok has suppressed content critical of President Trump. TikTok, however, disputes these findings, stating that the researchers focused on terms subject to heightened safety protocols due to their association with election misinformation and profanity.
The NCRI report highlights TikTok's potential as a powerful influencer, adaptable to political agendas, yet lacking transparency and accountability. NCRI board member Adam Sohn expressed concern over the seemingly arbitrary nature of TikTok's content policies, suggesting they are driven by political convenience rather than established standards.
The NCRI's analysis of TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram, focusing on hashtags related to the 2020 election, revealed discrepancies in search results. Specifically, hashtags like "#RiggedElection," "#VoterFraud," "#StopTheSteal," and "#StolenElection" yielded no results on TikTok within the U.S., while searches conducted using foreign locations produced video results. Further investigation revealed inconsistencies in the availability of results for profane hashtags targeting President Biden and President Trump.
TikTok maintains that the hashtags in question are associated with election misinformation, justifying their unavailability. The platform also attributes discrepancies in profane hashtag results to its content moderation policies and ongoing technical issues. A TikTok spokesperson emphasized the consistency of their policies and algorithms.
The backdrop to this controversy is the ongoing legal battle surrounding TikTok's ownership. Following a bipartisan law passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court, the Trump administration is currently negotiating with TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to ensure the app's compliance and continued operation in the U.S.
Cybersecurity experts acknowledge the complexity of content moderation on large platforms like TikTok. Theresa Payton, former White House Chief Information Officer, suggests that the observed discrepancies could be attributed to ongoing adjustments to handle capacity and address potential election interference and hate speech. However, Pete Pachal, founder of The Media Copilot, points to the report's findings of a potential pattern of suppression, warranting further investigation.
