ByteDance’s TikTok is ramping up efforts to address hate speech and inappropriate content related to the Israel-Hamas war. The social platform is launching new comment filtering tools, including “Comment Care Mode,” which filters comments similar to previously reported or deleted ones, and blocks comments from accounts not in the creator’s following or follower list. New users will be prompted about these tools after their first video upload, and a product beta testing program will be set up to gather direct feedback from creators.
In addition, TikTok has established an anti-hate and discrimination task force to proactively identify antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other hate trends. The team will work with experts to improve moderator training and expand managed creator communities to include Jewish and inter-faith communities, as well as API and LGBTQ+ communities next year.
TikTok plans to expand access to its research APIs to civil society groups, allowing them to better understand the types of content on the platform. The platform has also continued to remove large amounts of offensive content, with 1.3 million videos removed in the conflict region between October 7 and November 30, including content promoting Hamas, hate speech, terrorism, and misinformation.
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