TikTok apparently censored videos from users it deemed too ugly or poor
Aux Features great job internet
Before you make “becoming a viral TikTok star” a central component of your future financial plans, you might want to make sure you’re up to the exacting standards of the app’s extremely judgmental censorship algorithm. According to internal documents recently uncovered by The Intercept, ByteDance, the Chinese company behind the wildly popular video-sharing app, regularly instructs moderators to identify posts from users it deems unattractive, then artificially limit the audience reach of those posts to bar them from appearing in the app’s “For You” section. Similar censorship policies extend to content depicting poverty, people with disabilities, and anything negative about the police or other state institutions.
A spokesperson from TikTok told The Intercept that the policies of suppressing videos featuring poor or unattractive users was part of “an early blunt attempt at preventing bullying, but are no longer in place.” However, these internal documents make no mention of bullying and, in fact, make explicit reference to using the censorship policies to attract new users. After all, who wouldn’t want to be on an app with a bunch of wealthy hotties?
Moreover, sources have indicated to The Intercept that, despite claims made by the company spokesperson, these policies were in place as recently as late 2019.
Some of the physical traits deemed unfavorable by the company’s guidelines include “too many wrinkles,” “abnormal body shape,” “eye disorders,” and “obvious beer belly.” Additionally, videos that are shot in “shabby and dilapidated” settings or even feature something as small as a visible crack in the wall are systematically hidden from other users.
The deeper you get into the company’s censorship policies, the more convoluted and arbitrary the rules become. For example, engaging in racist, sexist, or otherwise bigoted activity on a livestream can result in a one-month suspension, after which the user will be allowed to resume streaming regularly. Promote one of TikTok’s competitors or deign to show the outline of a nipple, however, and you’ll be banned from the app permanently.
At the end of the day, ByteDance is a private company and can freely choose what kind of content they want on their platform. But these kind of secretive censorship policies certainly make TikTok an unattractive place to be.
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26 Comments
What if you are both poor AND ugly?Asking, for a fellow AVClubber.
*quietly slips ArgieBargie $5*
Five dollars?! This bastard’s the intended audience! Shine the light of scorn upon him! Deride him! Deeeeeeride him!
They send you a cup-and-ball and ask you to play with that instead
You came to the right place, friend.:: drains neck valve ::
Then you’re me…?
Hey. Don’t ask questions for me!
Foofrah!
To answer your question, all of my videos are deleted immediately.
Then you migrate to Losergram like the rest of us.
Wait – a chinese tech company is bullshit? Does this add up? ARE YOU SURE?
A spokesperson from TikTok told The Intercept that the policies
of suppressing videos featuring poor or unattractive users was part of
“an early blunt attempt at preventing bullying, but are no longer in
place.
I see they’re making the Lucille Bluth defense:
I feel like whoever wrote those policies was of the mindset that they needed to drink all the vodka or it would go bad.
Hopefully one takeaway from the Social Media Age is that we should always question the motives, background, and practices of every corporation we interact with. Assuming that they must be okay because you haven’t heard of anything bad yet is the default approach for almost everyone, and is clearly untenable.
The primary motive of every corporation is to increase shareholder wealth. Any other motive will be compromised or sacrificed as necessary.
I’ve seen some TikTok Videos where they haven’t been enforcing that “too ugly” rule.
That was “an early blunt attempt” the new method involves a sliding scale tailored to each individual user. If you’re seeing uggos, you’re an uggo, too.
They’re algorithm has identified so many, that they’re having problems hiring enough thugs to threaten to break their thumbs if they don’t stop posting.
This site is literally under investigation constantly for some shady shit.. But no one cares as long as they can try hard to become an internet sensation.. Todays society of trying to always be trendy is sad and disgusting.. Its funny how most people who say down with corporation have name brand shit and iPhones.. People are so stupid sometimes, especially the sheep..
You’ve got a face for Kinja.
NO SCRUBS
“too many wrinkles” does not imply “too ugly” but “too old”.
I don’t remember exactly when because time is fucked up right now but….didn’t we learn this last year? Or was that another app.
Just a guess, but some of these guidelines could reflect the censorship priorities of the Chinese government. Don’t show poverty, for instance, to keep people getting riled up about wealth disparity. Don’t disparage government or the police, because glorious revolutionary leaders, etc. On the topic of nipples, I haven’t heard about this recently but I do remember when pornography of any sort was severely punished in China. When I was in grad school I briefly had a roommate from China who went all-in on American porn when he had the opportunity, including wearing high-heeled pumps and hanging dirty pictures from the ceiling of his room (presumably so he’d have both hands free). It was both a little gross and a little sad; he was like a starving man who’d been let into the buffet and he couldn’t help but gorge himself.
Some of the physical traits deemed unfavorable by the company’s guidelines include “too many wrinkles,” “abnormal body shape,” “eye disorders,” and “obvious beer belly.”Physician, heal thyself.