TikTok removes over 3,80,000 videos for violating hate speech policy; 1,300 accounts banned
TikTok has removed over 3,80,000 videos in the United States for violating its hate speech policy so far this year. The short-form video app also said it banned more than 1,300 accounts for posting hateful content.
In a blog post, the app, owned by China's ByteDance, said it had acted on content such as race-based harassment and that is also had a zero-tolerance policy on organized hate groups and on content that denied "violent tragedies" like the Holocaust or slavery.
Earlier this month, a review by the Anti-Defamation League said that the video platform was being used to spread white supremacist and anti-Semitic hate speech. It is pertinent to mention here that the app, along with many others, was banned by the Indian government recently for threatening the country's sovereignty and security. Now it also facing the heat in the U.S.
President Donald Trump had last week ordered to divest TikTok's US operations within 90 days, in efforts to ramp up pressure on the Chinese company over concerns about the safety of the personal data it handles. However, TikTok said it has never provided user data to China and that it would not do so if asked.
