Recommendations, reports, moderation… TikTok is changing the way it works: what does that change?

2023-08-04 19:34:47

“Guarantee the security, confidentiality and safety of its European community. The Chinese social network TikTok announced this Friday, in a statementmodify its operation in order to comply with the new rules of the European Union which will come into force at the end of August.

Under the EU’s Digital Services Act, internet giants will have to comply with tougher rules on data privacy, child protection, disinformation and hate speech.

European Commissioner Thierry Breton had asked TikTok in mid-July to “accelerate” its work to comply with these new rules: “At the end of August, we will assess whether real and tangible changes have been made”, had- he warned. “TikTok knows that it is essential to guarantee the security, confidentiality and safety of its European community”, assures this Friday the video sharing application.

Personalized recommendations… or not

TikTok will now offer the ability to opt out of personalized content recommendations – that is, the algorithmically determined automatic feed based on the user’s presumed interests, a feature often found to be addictive. “So the For You and LIVE feeds will show popular videos from their location and around the world, and not content based on their personal interests,” the statement said.

The “Subscriptions” and “Friends” threads will continue “to display the creators they follow, but in chronological order and no longer according to the user’s profile”.

Report illegal content

The other changes aim to make it easier for users to report illegal content and ban targeted advertising to young people aged 13 to 17. “Reported content will first be reviewed against community guidelines and removed – globally – if it violates TikTok policies,” the company said, announcing a new “reporting option.” ”, with a list of categories.

TikTok also assures that it will be more transparent about its content moderation decisions, providing more details on why a video was removed. “We will not only continue to meet our regulatory obligations, but we will also strive to set new standards through innovative solutions,” the group said.

Espionage and manipulation?

TikTok has more than 1 billion active users worldwide, including 125 million in the European Union, and is particularly popular with young people thanks to its editing features and an algorithm powered by artificial intelligence.

But the application is suspected by the American authorities and several European countries of not protecting the data enough and of allowing Beijing to spy on and manipulate its users, which the group has always vigorously denied.