The times dives into an intelligence report on how TikTok’s political algorithm anomalies align with the CCP’s Geostrategic Objectives https://networkcontagion.us/wp-content/uploads/A-Tik-Tok-ing-Timebomb_12.21.23.pdf
This report highlights major differences in the prevalence of hashtags related to subjects like Hong Kong Protests, Tainanmen Square, Tibet, the South China Sea, Taiwan, Uyghurs, Pro-Ukraine, and Pro-Isreal when compared to other major social media platforms.
Additionally the times cited a Wall Street Journal analysis (https://www.wsj.com/tech/tiktok-israel-gaza-hamas-war-a5dfa0ee) which “found evidence that TikTok was promoting extreme content, especially against Israel. (China has generally sided with Hamas.)”
I’ve seen some discussion that selling the platform is a way to get a more pro-isreal/anti-palestine owner that will censor certain content or viewpoints.
Absolutely. Compare the kind of censorship that happens on Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit, to the kind that doesn’t happen on TikTok.
For example, I got permanently banned from Reddit (reversed after a few days’ appeal, but it took me out of the game) for pointing out others in the thread conflating ISIS with the general Palestinian public. This was, apparently, hate speech. You see people reporting similar things on all these American platforms.
I have my concerns about TikTok but the pearl clutching is very selective.