This archive report was first published on 28 November 2019.
Published on November 28, 2019, a controversy surrounding TikTok's moderation policies has come to light after the platform reversed its decision to ban an American teenager who posted a video criticizing China's treatment of minority Muslims.
The 17-year-old, Feroza Aziz, had her account blocked after posting a video discussing the mass internment of minority Muslims in China. However, TikTok later claimed that the ban was not due to the video itself, but because Ms. Aziz had used a previous account to post a clip that included a photo of Osama bin Laden.
Ms. Aziz expressed skepticism about TikTok's explanation, stating that she was blocked only after posting about Muslims in internment camps in China. The incident has raised fresh concerns about whether TikTok, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, muzzles its users in line with censorship directives from Beijing.
TikTok has denied accusations of censorship, stating that its moderation system had overreached in shutting Ms. Aziz out of her account. The company has apologized for the mistake and announced plans to review its moderation process and publish a revised set of guidelines on acceptable content within the next two months.
