A research by Mozilla Fellow, Odanga Madung, reveals that over 130 TikTok videos violated the platform's hate speech, incitement, and other political disinformation policies.
According to the research, some Kenyan accounts on the platform have been peddling political disinformation ahead of the August polls.
The researcher noted that the 130 videos were linked to 33 TikTok accounts.
The report was presented to TikTok, a social media platform medium that boasts of over 1 billion active users that has since stated that it has removed videos and suspended several accounts from the platform that violated its policies.
In the research, Madung noted it is prudent to hold TikTok accountable for the content posted on its platforms which is in breach of its own community guidelines.
“Kenya’s democracy carries a tainted past of post-election violence. Now, political disinformation on TikTok – in violation of the platform’s own policies – is stirring up this highly volatile political landscape. Meanwhile, TikTok has shown it is incapable of addressing this problem," Madung stated.
Some of the policies that were breached by the accounts included sharing content that is considered hate speech and discriminatory, content that incites hate or fear and inauthentic content.
TikTok’s policies forbid manufactured or manipulated content that misleads users by distorting the truth of events in a way that could cause harm.
"Several manipulated pieces of content were identified on the platform and were widely viewed, like a fake Kenya Television Network (KTN) news bulletin with a fake opinion poll and dubbed narration; a video showing a fake Joe Biden tweet; a fake Netflix documentary with dubbed narration and various false newspaper covers. These videos garnered over 342,000 views on TikTok," the research indicated.
"Some videos also included coded language labelling some ethnic communities as “madoadoa”, which loosely translates to “stains”, but is a derogatory term used to categorize communities that do not support particular political ideologies or leaders.
"Multiple grossly graphic and distasteful videos were identified on the platform and were allowed to thrive, suggesting that they may have been algorithmically amplified by the platform. One video containing images of political candidates in blood-stained clothes and wielding knives went undetected and was viewed at least 500,000 times," Madung stated.
TikTok states that its Community Guidelines target everyone and everything on the platform.
The platform has banned users from violating policies such as; minor safety, publishing dangerous acts and challenges, posting suicide, self-harm, and disordered eating videos, sharing adult nudity and sexual activities, bullying and harassment, hateful behaviour, violent extremism, integrity and authenticity, illegal activities and regulated goods, violent and graphic content, copyright and trademark infringement, platform security and ineligible for the For You Feed.
"The strength of a policy lies in its enforceability. Our Community Guidelines apply to everyone and all content on TikTok, and we strive to be consistent and equitable in our enforcement.
"We use a combination of technology and people to identify and remove violations of our Community Guidelines, and we will continue training our automated systems and safety teams to uphold our policies," TikTok stated.
