TikTok Algorithm Suppresses Content on Chinas Human Rights Abuses, Study Finds

A new study suggests that TikTok displays less content critical of China`s human rights record compared to Instagram and YouTube. Researchers found that searching for terms related to China`s human rights abuses on TikTok yielded more positive, neutral, or irrelevant content than on the other platforms. The study also indicated that heavy TikTok users had a more favorable view of China`s human rights record than non-users. However, TikTok disputes the study`s methodology, arguing that it doesn`t reflect real user experience and was designed to reach a predetermined conclusion. The company maintains that creating fake accounts and conducting prescribed searches does not accurately represent how users interact with the app.