TikTok has restricted one tool researchers use to analyze popular videos. The move follows a barrage of criticism directed at the social media platform about content related to the Israel-Hamas war.

Among others, the social media company, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, has removed certain hashtags from the Creative Center that some online researchers had stored for analysis. They include topics that would be seen as controversial to the Chinese government – such as “UyghurGenocide” and “TiananmenSquare”- as well as hashtags about U.S. politics and the war in Gaza and Ukraine.

  • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    0·
    6 months ago

    TikTok is still home to ridiculous (and even deadly) misinformation, especially vaccine related misinformation, and it’s still a corporation that makes billions of dollars per year. They also have a history of a litany of issues with LGBTQ users. It’s kind of ridiculous to compare scientific study of it as a social platform to invading the home of a private citizen.