
<p>As the Fourth of July drew to a close, Ziggi Tyler, 23, of Chicago, decided to use his holiday downtime to update his bio on TikTok’s Creator Marketplace, a new part of the app where influencers like Tyler connect with brands to strike sponsorship deals. Tyler is a Black influencer who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ziggityler?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">uses TikTok</a>&nbsp;and other platforms to post comedy vlogs, and he wanted to highlight his background to marketers who might want to launch racial justice campaigns or ads featuring more diverse talent. But when he went to include words and phrases like “Black,” “Black Lives Matter” and “Black support,” he made an uncomfortable discovery: The app wouldn’t allow him to include them, flagging the words as inappropriate content and making it impossible for him to publish the new bio.</p>



<p>“It’s very odd, it’s very strange—it’s very frustrating,” says Tyler.</p>



<p>TikTok doesn’t deny that this happened to Tyler. It says the content moderation algorithm within the Creator Marketplace, launched in mid 2020, is a work in progress. The problem stretched into Wednesday afternoon—at that time, TikTok placed a block on anyone updating their marketplace bios. The company says it has since corrected the faulty AI, though any changes to the bios still cannot go through.</p>



<p>TikTok says the algorithm flagged the phrases because Tyler had also written the word “audience” in his bio, and the AI had been taught to flag bios that included the word “die,” which is contained within the word “audience,” and things like “Black” and “Black Lives Matter” as possible hate speech.</p>



<p>“Our TikTok Creator Marketplace protections, which flag phrases typically associated with hate speech, were erroneously set to flag phrases without respect to word order,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement. “We recognize and apologize for how frustrating this was to experience.”</p>



<p>For his part, Tyler finds TikTok’s explanation specious. “I could write out ‘neo nazi’ and ‘white supremacy’ no problem, and that’s cool,” he says. “But I just went in 30 minutes ago and tried to add ‘Black Lives Matter’ again, and it wasn’t allowed.” While TikTok had an explanation for why Tyler couldn’t fill out his bio with those phrases, the company didn’t offer one for something else: Tyler’s videos for now can’t be as easily shared on TikTok as videos from most other influencers. The Stitch and Duet functions, two common features that allow users to republish another person’s TikToks, have been disabled on Tyler’s account, making it harder for his videos to go viral. (TikTok denies turning off these features, saying only a user can do so. Tyler, in turn, says he didn’t mute them either.) Nonetheless, his videos talking about his experience over the past few days have done nearly 2.5 million views.  </p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6981541023633771269?refer=embed
</div></figure>



<p>There’s been a growing tension between TikTok and the Black community on its app. During last year’s Black Lives Matter protests, several Black creators&nbsp;<a href="https://time.com/5863350/tiktok-black-creators/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">alleged</a>&nbsp;that TikTok was suppressing content about the protests and George Floyd’s death, something the company has denied doing. TikTok did admit a “technical glitch” affected the view counts around hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter and #GeorgeFloyd, making it seem that they had received zero or very few views when in fact they’d been watched millions of times. Most recently, some Black influencers staged what they called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/06/25/heres-why-black-dancers-are-protesting-against-tiktok/">a virtual strike</a>, going silent on the app to protest an unfair bias among advertisers on the app that favors white creators.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Moreover, TikTok has struggled at points to grow from an app featuring dances and stunts into a social network where politics and other weighty issues are discussed—even as its user base has ballooned to more than 700 million users worldwide, complicating that calculus. As recently as late 2019, the company’s top executives&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2021/05/05/tiktok-trump-bytedance/">were actively weighing</a>&nbsp;whether they should find ways to tamp down content about politics, going as far as to consider turning off its key algorithmic feed during elections, including the 2020 presidential contest in America.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Tyler, bearded and habitually clad in a knit cap, joined TikTok back in February 2020 and established a niche for himself with humorous videos, talking about topics like his apperance, sex and white influencers. He has since accumulated 368,000 followers, and in October, he joined TikTok’s Creator Fund, which pays out to creators who create popular enough videos. Tyler, a recent Southern Illinois University graduate, joined the Creator Marketplace the following January. He hasn’t struck any brand deals yet—rejecting a few overtures from companies he found less than reputable—but hopes to in the coming months.</p>



<p>“I’m genuinely just here to make people laugh, feel good about themselves, feel confident, feel sexy,” Tyler says. “I just want people to love themselves and have a good time. Because there&#8217;s so much hate in the world.”</p>


Trump Approves TikTok Takeover By Oracle And Walmart

TikTok Blocked Creators From Adding ‘Black’ And ‘Black Lives Matter’ To Bios


<p>The Pakistani government has banned TikTok, claiming that it has received a number of complaints against “immoral/indecent” content on the video-sharing app, a move that comes a few months after the platform received a “final warning” on the issue.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h3>



<p>The ban was&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/PTAofficialpk/status/1314536530325762048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1314536532791963649%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.medianama.com%2F2020%2F10%2F223-tiktok-ban-pakistan%2F" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">issued</a>&nbsp;by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) which said in a press release that it had given TikTok “considerable time” to develop an “effective mechanism for proactive moderation of unlawful online content,” but the platform failed to do so.</p>



<p>The regulator, however, left the door open to review its decision if TikTok manages to create a “satisfactory mechanism” to moderate content.</p>



<p>While issuing TikTok a warning in July, Pakistan had&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/PTAofficialpk/status/1285287980370931712" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">banned</a>&nbsp;a Chinese-owned live-streaming app Bigo for similar reasons.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">CHIEF CRITIC</h3>



<p>Pakistan-based digital and women&#8217;s rights lawyer Nighat Dad told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;that the ban is being seen as unconstitutional and a violation of people’s fundamental rights. “The lack of transparency around the PTA’s decision means that one authority can choose to ban anything by calling it immoral,” she said. “TikTok offered breathing space for people who consider themselves as minorities in the country, and the platform enabled them to enjoy the freedom that they did not find in public spaces.”</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">BIG NUMBER</h3>



<p>43 million. That’s the total number of times the TikTok app has been downloaded in Pakistan, according to data shared by mobile app intelligence firm Sensor Tower. Prior to the ban Pakistan was TikTok’s 12th largest market.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h3>



<p>In June, Pakistan’s neighbor India had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2020/06/29/india-bans-tiktok-58-other-chinese-apps-citing-security-concerns/#3054d1157e60">banned</a>&nbsp;the Chinese-owned video-sharing app claiming that it was stealing users’ personal data. India’s Ministry of Electronics &amp; IT said it had taken the decision after receiving “many complaints” of TikTok and other Chinese-owned apps “stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India.” The video-sharing platform has also been threatened with a ban in the U.S. by the Trump administration over a similar allegation of sharing user data with the Chinese government, something TikTok vehemently denies.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h3>



<p>Internet platforms have regularly run afoul of Pakistan’s laws on morality and objectionable content. YouTube, which has borne the brunt of such actions so far, was banned for more than three years between September 2012 and January 2016. The video-sharing platform was only&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-youtube-idUSKCN0UW1ER" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reinstated</a>&nbsp;after it launched a local version that allows the government to demand the removal of material it considers offensive. In August this year, the Pakistani telecom regulator&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medianama.com/2020/08/223-pakistan-youtube-objetionable-videos/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">asked</a>&nbsp;YouTube to “immediately block vulgar, indecent, immoral, nude and hate speech content” in the country. In September, the country had&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/PTAofficialpk/status/1300778356288425984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1300778356288425984%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.medianama.com%2F2020%2F09%2F223-pakistan-bans-tinder-grindr%2F" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">banned</a>&nbsp;dating apps Tinder and Grindr calling them “immoral or indecent.”</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h4>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2020/06/29/india-bans-tiktok-58-other-chinese-apps-citing-security-concerns/#3054d1157e60">India Bans TikTok, 58 Other Chinese Apps, Citing Security Concerns</a> (Forbes)</p>



<p><em>-By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff</em></p>


In this photo illustration the TikTok logo seen displayed on

Pakistan Bans TikTok For Allowing ‘Immoral/Indecent’ Content


<p>TikTok received a lifeline Sunday evening when a federal judge&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pacermonitor.com/view/W23REIQ/TIKTOK_INC_et_al_v_TRUMP_et_al__dcdce-20-02658__0029.0.pdf?mcid=tGE3TEOA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">issued a preliminary injunction</a>&nbsp;against the U.S. government’s decision to ban downloads of the app.</p>



<p>The ban was set to begin at midnight tonight, and the legal maneuver was TikTok’s final gambit to prevent the ban from going into effect, a decision that it had said would begin to erode its business across the world.</p>



<p>“I am very happy that the court has granted an injunction preventing the implementation of the TikTok ban that would have prohibited new users to download the app,” TikTok’s interim chief Vanessa Pappas&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/v_ness/status/1310390934190792704" target="_blank">wrote on Twitter</a>. “We will continue to seek to protect the rights of our users, partners, artists, employees, businesses, and creators.”</p>



<p>President Trump is forcing TikTok’s China-owned parent company, ByteDance, to sell off the app, citing concerns that ByteDance could be unduly pressured by the the Chinese government. ByteDance appears to have a deal worked out with Oracle&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/oracle" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ORCL</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/oracle">+0.8%</a>&nbsp;and Walmart&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/walmart" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WMT</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/walmart">+0.4%</a>, but the terms of the transactions aren’t clear, and both sides have made conflicting comments since announcing the deal last week.</p>



<p>The deal seems to have the U.S. government’s approval, and it now must get a sign off from China’s government. It’s not certain that Chinese authorities will do so with many critics in China unhappy about Trump’s pressure on ByteDance to spin off what was a crown jewel of the country’s technology sector into American hands.</p>



<p>TikTok was a social media phenomenon until it found itself in the president’s crosshairs. It has more than 100 million users in America, and until this summer, it was adding more than 400,000 daily users each day. Then, in August, Trump issued two executive orders that would kill the app in American, a move meant to force ByteDance into selling TikTok.</p>



<p>The first executive order is what TikTok and the government were fighting about in federal court this weekend. It prohibits new downloads but allows the app to keep operating. The second executive order would halt TikTok’s entire U.S. operations beginning Nov. 12. But even this first ban would curtail TikTok’s growth and drive users toward other competing platforms, such as Instagram, YouTube and several much smaller rivals.</p>



<p>Sunday’s court proceedings were only the latest dramatic chapter in the drama surrounding TikTok, which has played out in surprisingly public fashion and involved some of the richest and most powerful figures in politics and business. While lawyers appeared in court early Sunday morning, Judge Carl Nichols did not hand out his decision until around 8:30 this evening, hours before the ban’s start.</p>



<p><em>-By Abram Brown,Forbes Staff</em></p>


Tag: tiktok ban

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

TikTok Blocked Creators From Adding ‘Black’ And ‘Black Lives Matter’ To Bios

Pakistan Bans TikTok For Allowing ‘Immoral/Indecent’ Content

TikTok Stays Alive With Judge Temporarily Delaying Download Ban