TikTok

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TikTok, known in China as Douyin, is a social networking service owned by Chinese company ByteDance. This is an app for making and sharing short videos. The videos are tall, not square, like on Snapchat or Instagram’s stories, but you navigate through videos by scrolling up and down, like a feed, not by tapping or swiping side to side. Video creators have all sorts of tools at their disposal: filters as on Snapchat (and later, everyone else); the ability to search for sounds to score your video. Users are also strongly encouraged to engage with other users, through “response” videos or by means of “duets” — users can duplicate videos and add themselves alongside.[1]

TikTok is an international version of Douyin, which was originally released in the Chinese market in September 2016. Later, TikTok was launched in 2017 for iOS and Android in most markets outside of mainland China; however, it only became available worldwide after merging with another Chinese social media service, Musical.ly, on August 2, 2018.TikTok and Douyin have almost the same user interface but no access to each other's content. Their servers are each based in the market where the respective app is available. The two products are similar, but features are not identical. Douyin includes an in-video search feature that can search by people's face for more videos of them and other features such as buying, booking hotels and making geo-tagged reviews. Since its launch in 2016, TikTok/Douyin rapidly gained popularity in East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the United States, Turkey, Russia, and other parts of the world. As of October 2020, TikTok surpassed over 2 billion mobile downloads worldwide.[2]

Racism Controversies

Face bias allegations

Artificial intelligence researcher, Marc Faddoul, demonstrates that there may be a glitch in the system and that the platform may reinforce racial bias. In a series of tweets Faddoul indicated that he did an experiment on his own and found that TikTok recommended accounts based on the accounts he was already following. This isn’t unusual, as this is how social media algorithms work. What was interesting to Faddoul is that the physical characteristics of a person’s profile picture were mimicked in TikTok’s recommendations. For example, if he followed a White woman with blonde hair, a series of TikTok users who looked the same would populate as his recommendations. If, on the otherhand, Faddoul followed an Asian man, similarly, other accounts of Asian men would show up in his recommendations. A TikTok spokesperson shared with BuzzFeed News that this phenomenon is known as collaborative filtering. What’s problematic about the collaborative filtering, Faddoul indicated is that it “may also reproduce whatever bias there is in people’s behavior.” If the majority of popular creators on TikTok are White, for example, this can prevent creators of color with smaller followings from being seen and recommended as often on the platform. Visibility is important for creators and can translate to money and opportunities. If creators of color receive less visibility than their White counterparts, this could lead to a less of these opportunities.[3]

Because the platform’s biggest users are White, TikTok’s algorithm may elevate White creators while limiting the visibility and reach of creators of color.

In addition to racial biases which may be perpetuated by the platform’s algorithm, there are several TikTok users that criticize the platform for inequitable treatment of creators of color. A quick peruse on Twitter of the search terms ‘TikTok’ and ‘racism’ will pull up a multitude of tweets from users sharing opinions and videos about the discrepancies in treatment among White and non-White users. [3]

Another allegations from Black creators also came up because some TikTok creators say they’re facing videos being taken down, muted or hidden from followers for posting Black Lives Matter content.

Black out movement

Black Out movement organized by Lex Scott, the founder of Black Lives Matter Utah, that called on TikTok users to stand in solidarity against censorship of and racism against Black creators, TikTok came under fire for what it said was a “technical glitch” that affected the view count displays on videos tagged with the hashtags #BlackLivesMatter and #GeorgeFloyd even though those hashtags had garnered upwards of 1 billion views as protest content skyrocketed. After the issue was flagged by a Twitter user on May 28, TikTok released a statement on Twitter on May 29 saying that the glitch was also affecting random words like #hello and #cat before resolving the problem that same day. This incident took place as Black Lives Matter activism was surging on a number of social media platforms in response to a global uprising against police brutality and racism in the U.S., drawing a powerful level of attention to it.[4]

TikTok support for Black community

TikTok message to Black community

Message to Black community

Due to unfairness treatment felt by Black community, On June 2, 2020, TikTok shared a message to their Black community via their website written by Vanessa Pappas, TikTok US General Manager, and Kudzi Chikumbu, Director of Creator Community.

They mentioned that they have been reflecting on how they can do better. To Black community, TikTok wants them to know that they hear and care about their experiences on TikTok. They also acknowledge and apologize to Black creators and community who have felt unsafe, unsupported, or suppressed. They also fully acknowledge their responsibility to not simply wish for and talk about the importance of diversity on the platform, but to actively promote and protect it.

TikTok also shares some of the actionable steps they are taking to foster an inclusive environment on the platform:[5]

  • Investing in technology and moderation strategies to better handle potentially violative content, and designing a clearer, more user-friendly appeals process
  • Establishing a creator diversity council and impact-driven programs geared towards recognizing and uplifting the voices driving culture, creativity, and important conversations on the platform
  • Furthering the efforts of TikTok internal diversity task force and engaging organizations and experts to analyze how products and policies can better serve people of all backgrounds
  • Developing a creator portal to expand communication channels with and opportunities for their broader creator community.

Blackout Tuesday

TikTok participated in solidarity with the Black community and the music industry by participating in Blackout Tuesday, when they turn off all playlists and campaigns on our Sounds page to observe a moment of reflection and action.

Donation

In honor of their Black creators, TikTok is donating $3 million from their Community Relief Fund to non-profits that help the Black community, which has been disproportionately affected by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, they are committing another $1 million toward fighting the racial injustice and inequality. They also will further develop ongoing efforts in this space as they work to support underrepresented groups as a whole.

References

  1. Herrman, John. How TikTok Is Rewriting the World. The New York Times, March 10, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  2. TikTok. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Asare, Janice Gassam. Does TikTok Have A Race Problem?. Forbes, April 14, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  4. McCluskey, Megan. These TikTok Creators Say They’re Still Being Suppressed for Posting Black Lives Matter Content. TIME, July 22, 2020. Retrieved on January 20, 2021
  5. A message to our Black community. TikTok, June 2, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2021.