TikTok caught out suppressing LGBTI+ and political hashtags – ABC News

Despite being a platform known mostly for funny dances and viral trends, TikTok has found itself in the headlines again.

According to a new report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the platform has been censoring hashtags related to the LGBTI+ community, political issues and certain leaders.

Among the banned terms are 'gay' in multiple languages including Russian and Arabic, #acab and "Putin is a thief" in Russian.

"TikTok had previously said they were taking down or moderating content based on geolocation and based on local laws," says Daria Impiombato, one of the researchers who worked on the report.

"But in reality we have found that several hashtags like 'gay' in Russian or Arabic are actually being censored globally."

Daria and her colleagues said these terms are effectively "shadowbanned."

That means videos using the tags don't show up in your feed or when you search for them, even though they can still be accessed by actually clicking on the tag itself when you've uploaded a video.

TikTok is a social media app that allows people to create video clips and share live broadcasts.

TikTok is a social media app that allows people to create video clips and share live broadcasts.

"We published a video with the hashtag 'gay' in Russian and clicking through that hashtag we were actually redirected through to the hashtag page and we could find thousands of videos that had accumulated millions of views, but when you searched through the search function on the app you could find nothing."

Daria says shadow bans are having an impact on users around the world, including here in Australia.

"We have searched from Australia and we still couldn't access that content; it impacts all those people who speak those languages."

The ABC understands that some tags were restricted by TikTok to comply with local laws, but others were suppressed because the company believed they were being used to search for porn on the platform.

"Our policies and practices are informed by experts across the field and continually evolve to meet the needs of our vibrant community," the company said in a statement.

"We've committed to making our moderation policies, algorithm, and data security practices available to experts, which no other company in our space has been willing to do,"

"We are deeply committed to inclusivity and proud that content celebrating our diverse community is among the most popular on TikTok."

Even though TikTok is the platform copping heat right now, plenty of other social media companies have been called out for allegedly discriminating against queer content.

Queer YouTube creators have accused the site of demonetising their videos and Instagram has been criticsed for algorithms that labelled images of gender diverse people of colour as ads for sex work.

Tina and Renee Dixson, are ANU PhD Candidates and co-founders of the Forcibly Displaced People Network, the first Australian LGBTIQ+ Refugee-led community organisation.

They say this kind of shadow banning isn't just a problem on TikTok and it's having serious consequences.

"They're all guilty in this," says Renee.

"They're not only erasing your existence, they cut out the possibilities to connect with your community."

Tina says by shadowbanning LGBTI+ tags, TikTok is cutting off opportunities for queer people to connect with their community in countries where their sexuality is already not accepted ."In so many cases people are reliant on that representation to see that they're not alone," she says.

Tina [left] and Renee Dixson are ANU PhD Candidates and co-founders of the Forcibly Displaced People Network, the first Australian LGBTIQ+ Refugee-led community organisation.

Tina [left] and Renee Dixson are ANU PhD Candidates and co-founders of the Forcibly Displaced People Network, the first Australian LGBTIQ+ Refugee-led community organisation.

"What they want is to be seen and to know their lives are legitimate and valid."

"When we're suppressing any mentions, especially positive mentions... this actually has really negative consequences for people because they don't see themselves represented."

Tina and Renee have got some suggestions for how the social media giants can up their game, by tackling the root causes of homophobia and transphobia rather than queer tags.

"Every time we report any homophobic or transphobic behaviours against the content we post... every single time it says it doesn't violate community guidelines," Tina says.

"If we can create an algorithm that can detect a woman's nipple on an instagram picture and ban it, then clearly we can create an algorithm that would detect homophobia, transphobia and racism and ban it."

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TikTok caught out suppressing LGBTI+ and political hashtags - ABC News