Gay, drugs or porn. Whoever writes this on Tiktok will be banned. The popular social media app TikTok censors comments from users. This is apparent from research by NDR, WDR and Tagesschau.
Specifically, it involves about 20 words that are blocked, in addition to “gay”, “drugs” and “porn”, “sex”, “Nazi” and “slaves” are also on the list.
This means: If you, as a TikTok user, want to write a comment on a video and it contains a word that violates the guidelines, the comment will not be displayed publicly.
Tiktok user angry
What initially sounds like a good idea to prevent hate content turns out to be a nuisance for TikTok users. In some cases, comments incorrectly classified as malicious are also blocked and users are not notified.
The TikToker Maximilian Pichlmeier often covers the topic of LGBTQI on his profile, so he sees a problem in the exchange. “If the word ‘gay’ or ‘homosexual’ occurs and I use it myself, but the other person’s comment is not shown, then there can be no discussion.”
system needs improvement
A spokeswoman said TikTok is using the technology to proactively monitor for comments that violate the policy. This system will be improved to reduce the number of incidents of incorrect comment blocking. Their goal is to create a welcoming community environment.
It is unclear whether there will be a change, because TikTok has already stated several times that it wants to improve this. As it turns out, these have been just empty words until now. (lrc)