Report Suggests Beijing May Influence Content on TikTok
The Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University has published a report that raises concerns about whether the Chinese government influences the content on TikTok, a popular video app. The report analyzed the volume of posts with certain hashtags on TikTok and Instagram, and found that topics often suppressed by the Chinese government, such as Tibet, Hong Kong protests, and the Uyghur population, are underrepresented on TikTok compared to Instagram.
Unusual Discrepancies in Hashtag Volume
The researchers discovered that for popular pop culture and politics terms like #TaylorSwift and #Trump, there were roughly two Instagram posts for every one on TikTok. However, the ratio increased significantly for hashtags related to sensitive topics. For example, the ratio was more than 8-to-1 for #Uyghur or #Uighur, 30-to-1 for #Tibet, 57-to-1 for #TiananmenSquare, and 174-to-1 for #HongKongProtest.
Possible Government Influence
The report suggests that there is a strong possibility that content on TikTok is either amplified or suppressed based on its alignment with the interests of the Chinese government. Joel Finkelstein, a founder of the Network Contagion Research Institute, stated that it is not believable that this could happen organically.
TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has repeatedly denied any influence from the Chinese government. The company argues that hashtags are created by users and that the content referred to in the report is widely available on the platform.
Renewed Calls for Regulation
Republican lawmakers have renewed their calls to regulate or ban TikTok, citing concerns about potential surveillance and government influence. A bipartisan committee of House representatives has requested a classified briefing from the F.B.I. regarding ByteDance, TikTok, and potential surveillance efforts. Representative Josh Gottheimer, Democrat of New Jersey, believes that TikTok is being used as a tool to spread disinformation and suppress content that undermines the Chinese government.
Need for Access to Data
Academic and civil society researchers have been urging TikTok to provide them with access to data in order to study the spread of information on the app. The report from the Network Contagion Research Institute serves as a reminder of the importance of this access.
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