(TibetanReview.net, Aug15’24) – TikTok may claim all it wants that it operates independently of the Chinese government; that it does not share user data with the Chinese authorities, if only to avoid being banned in the USA. But the company has still been found to be working as a propaganda arm of the Chinese government, promoting pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-state content to twist the views of users in the USA, according to a recent report by Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) based in New Jersey.
The 32-page report titled The CCP’s Digital Charm Offensive: How TikTok’s Search Algorithm and Pro-China Influence Networks Indoctrinate GenZ Users in the United States, has said that the online platform’s algorithm promotes content favourable to the CCP and suppresses content that is critical of the CCP.
The report has found that TikTok contained the lowest proportion of anti-China content compared to Instagram or YouTube, two other globally popular and similar platforms.
For the search term “Tibet”, for example, NCRI has found that TikTok contained the highest proportion of pro-China content and the lowest proportion of anti-China content by far compared to YouTube and Instagram. The analysis was also stated to show that the proportion of neutral content was similar across all three platforms.
The report highlighted the association between social media platform usage and pro-CCP attitudes among users. It also unveiled the extent to which TikTok and other platforms may influence user perceptions and behaviours in favour of the CCP, noted the ANI news service Aug 14.
According to the NCRI report, TikTok’s algorithms consistently amplify pro-CCP content and suppress anti-CCP narratives. The Pro-CCP content originates from state-linked entities which include media outlets and social media influencers.
The report has noted observing a significant shift in user attitudes towards China, especially among heavy TikTok users, indicating successful indoctrination.
The data has also observed that pro-China and irrelevant content constituted between 61-93% of search results on TikTok, illustrating how flattering or distracting content is systematically amplified as a way to subsume the low proportion of anti-China coverage extant on the platform.
The study’s authors have admitted the findings are “not definitive proof of state orchestration,” and noted that FBI Director Christopher Wray is among the top US intel officials who admit that such manipulation would be “difficult to detect”.
Still, the report is the latest blow to the social media platform, whose owner, China-based ByteDance, is under increasing pressure to sell its US assets or face a permanent ban in the country. TikTok reportedly has 1.04 billion monthly active users worldwide, including 170 million in the US, noted newsmax.com Aug 13.
India had about 200 million TikTok users, the most outside of China, until it was banned in the country in Jun 2020.
Earlier, an NCRI analysis published in December looked at the volume of posts with certain hashtags — such as “Uyghur,” “Xinjiang,” “Tibet,” and “Tiananmen” — across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. That report found anomalies in TikTok content based on its alignment with the interests of the Chinese government, the report noted, citing KQED-FM, San Francisco.
A TikTok spokesperson dismissed the study, claiming all platforms algorithmically promote engagement, so if a video is proving popular, TikTok’s algorithm is designed to elevate it, not bury it. “Creating fake accounts that interact with the app in a prescribed manner does not reflect real users’ experience, just as this so-called study does not reflect facts or reality.”