TikTok apologized for the glitch affecting the 'black lives matter' hashtag after accusations of censorship: 'We know this came at a painful time'
- Last week, a viral Tweet accused TikTok of blocking the #blacklivesmatter and #georgefloyd hashtags amid in-person and online mobilization protesting the killing of George Floyd in police custody.
- While Twitter and TikTok users described the situation as an example of the video-sharing platform censoring black voices, TikTok stated that the dramatically reduced view count surrounding the hashtags was the result of a technical glitch.
- The app has since issued several statements regarding the issue, apologizing for the "confusion and pain" caused by the error and noting that the glitch applied to a wide range of hashtags.
- Creators, however, are continuing to accuse the platform of limiting black creators — an issue that has garnered significant attention online in recent months.
- On Monday afternoon, TikTok released a blog post addressing creator concerns and listing "actionable steps" the platform intends to take moving forward.
TikTok has responded to accusations that the video-sharing platform censored the #blacklivesmatter hashtag amid widespread protests against the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was killed during an arrest on May 25 when a white officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes.
Accusations of censorship surfaced on Thursday when a TikTok user noticed that he was not able to see posts with the hashtag #blacklivesmatter, as a preliminary search for the term showed that the hashtag had "0 views."
"TikTok blocked the #blacklivesmatter tag and ever single tag related to #GeorgeFloyd," @revengejda wrote in a tweet which quickly racked up over 100,000 likes. "This is disgusting. F-ck TikTok."
The comments section quickly flooded with outrage from Twitter and TikTok users saying that the platform discriminated against black voices.
"just admit your platform is anti-black," one commenter wrote. "we've seen the stuff you promote and the stuff you remove from your platform. you are anti-black."
TikTok support also replied to the viral tweet, noting that the company was "aware of an issue " related to hashtag view counts — an issue which appeared to affect "words at random, including terms like #cat and #hello." The problem, they said, was being investigated and a support team was "working quickly to address the issue."
TikTok support also released a statement on Twitter, explaining that inaccurate view count was the result of technical glitch that "widely affected the view count displayed on hashtags in the upload stage."
The glitch, the tweet explained, temporarily impacted view count displays on hashtags — but only in the app's "Compose" screen. Hashtags, videos, and "discovery of uploaded content," TikTok said, were not affected by the bug.
In a follow-up tweet, the company clarified that while a range of hashtags on the app had been impacted by the glitch, the error affecting #blacklivesmatter hashtag was particularly "painful."
"we recognize that it unfortunately came at a painful time for the Black community in particular," the tweet read. "We deeply value the diverse voices on TikTok, and we apologize for the confusion and pain this situation caused."
The tweets continued to receive criticism from commenters accusing the platform of removing black creators' videos and being unresponsive to appeals for their reinstatement.
"You do not respond to emails and continue to ignore black creators when videos are removed that do not go against your guidelines... you have yet to respond to my many appeals," one Twitter user wrote.
"There are black creators getting banned for absolutely no reason," another said. "I don't know who @tiktok_us is run by but we need to be heard. Where on YOUR app helping YOU make money. So we must be heard."
Over the weekend, TikTok issued another statement on Twitter addressing the "confusion & hurt" caused by the glitch.
"We hear you & apologize for the confusion & hurt brought by yesterday's bug in Compose that made it seem like hashtags had 0 views," the statement read. "We know this came at a painful time for the Black community. We stand with you & are committed to providing a platform where all are seen and heard."
TikTok subsequently posted another statement on Twitter and Instagram, reiterating previous tweets and noting that the #blacklivesmatter and #georgefloyd hashtags had racked up 1 billion views on the platform.
"At TikTok we deeply value the diverse voices among our users, creators, artists, partners, and employees," the statement said. "We stand with the Black community and are proud to provide a platform where #blacklivesmatter and #georgefloyd generate powerful and important content with over 1 billion views."
"Lol deleted. Not redownloading ever," one Twitter user responded, receiving over 900 likes. "this ain't even an apology ....... and it doesn't even feel genuine if it's supposed to be one."
"Thanks for saying that my video where I translated a BLM message was against ur guidelines," another creator wrote, attaching a screenshot of a message from the app that a video had been "removed for violating community guidelines."
A spokesperson for TikTok told Insider in a statement that TikTok "identified and resolved" a technical issue affecting the view count shown on hashtags in the upload stage.
"This bug had temporarily affected view count displays on hashtags in the Compose screen only; it did not affect tags, videos, or discovery of uploaded content. We apologize for the confusion this caused for our community," the statement read.
The lastest upset online follows months of accusations that the platform censors black creators' content.
As several commenters alluded to in their responses to TikTok's tweets, people have previously accused the app of censoring videos by people of color — and, more recently, some have mobilized to uplift creators who they believe have been marginalized by the app.
In May, several black creators encouraged allies to participate in a "black out" by changing their TikTok profile photos to a picture of a raised black fist and following new black creators.
Lex Scott, the founder of Black Lives Matter Utah, created the black out movement after posting a TikTok video calling on content creators to participate.
"I did this because black creators are being silenced on TikTok and other social media platforms and I am fed up. Our videos are taken down and our accounts are banned when we speak against racism," she told CNN."I want TikTok to change their policies when it comes to black and brown creators. We should not be punished for speaking against racism. The accounts of actual racists should be taken down."
The platform has even admitted to censoring content in the past. In 2019, the Guardian reported that the app had previously censored content from creators deemed "susceptible to bullying or harassment based on their physical or mental condition." TikTok told the outlet that the approach that "blunt the temporary" approach to combatting bullying on the platform had been changed to make way for "more nuanced anti-bullying policies and in-app protections."
On Monday, TikTok shared a blog post addressing users' concerns and listing steps the app plans to take to promote an 'inclusive environment.'
TikTok US General Manager Vanessa Pappas and Director of Creator Community Kudzi Chikumbu penned a blog post on Monday titled "A message to our Black Community," in which the two referenced the "tough but fair" questions that TikTok users had voiced regarding who is given representation on the app.
Pappas and Chikumbu apologized to black creators and voiced an intention to better promote and protect diversity moving forward.
"We acknowledge and apologize to our Black creators and community who have felt unsafe, unsupported, or suppressed. We don't ever want anyone to feel that way. We welcome the voices of the Black community wholeheartedly," they wrote, later adding, "We also fully acknowledge our responsibility to not simply wish for and talk about the importance of diversity on our platform, but to actively promote and protect it. We share in the pain our country is in, and it is palpable across our TikTok communities. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the Black community and, as we write this, our teams are working on ways to elevate and support Black voices and causes."
In order to further that mission, the post reads, the platform will take steps to "invest in technology and moderation strategies to better handle potentially violative content"; craft a new "user-friendly" appeals process; establish a "creator diversity council"; use internal resources to analyze "how products and policies can better serve people of all backgrounds"; and develop a creator portal.
Pappas and Chikumbu added that the platform will stand in solidarity with the Black community and music industry by participating in "Black Out Tuesday" by turning off playlists and campaigns on the Sounds page to "observe a moment of reflection and action."
"We appreciate being held accountable," the post concludes. "We know that getting to a place of trust will take work, but we are dedicated to doing our part as we continue to foster a space where everyone is seen and heard."
Update: this story has been updated to include a blog post from TikTok.
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