The platform faces a series of restrictions in various countries due to the high exposure of users and the environment that surrounds them – El Sol de Mazatlán

As the popularity of TikTok increases around the world, it is foreseeable that there will be more regulation and ban in some countries, but it cannot be ruled out that users could find a way to violate the policies or algorithms of the platform and thus publish. sensitive content, warns the information and communication technology specialist, Ilse Sandoval, after the European Parliament banned the Chinese application on corporate phones of its workers and MEPs, in addition to recommending that it not be installed on personal devices.

Also under the argument of risks to national security, data protection and the collection of data by third parties, a bill that could lead to the total ban of the popular short video application in the United States passed this week to a key stage in Congress.

Sandoval tells El Sol de México that although TikTok has tightened its community standards in recent months, the content creators themselves have found a way to avoid security filters, either by momentarily censoring high-sounding words or by showing nudes in fractions of a second for The videos.

Another way to post inappropriate content, such as street fights or even movies and television series, is to include video clips with cooking recipes or doing some playful activity.

“An additional concern is the impact of TikTok on the mental health of users, especially adolescents.

Despite this, the platform remains one of the most popular applications in the world, with a significant impact on culture and society”, said the specialist.

According to Sandoval, the ban on this page has generated a debate about the regulation of social networks and data privacy around the world.

“Free speech and digital rights advocates have argued that the bans are a form of censorship, and that they should be addressed through regulation rather than outright bans,” the expert added.

TikTok has stood up for its security and privacy, saying its users’ data is not at risk and that it has strict policies in place to ensure inappropriate content is removed.

This week, the company announced that it will begin to apply connection restrictions for accounts under 18 years of age, who will now only have 60 minutes of browsing a day, as well as a series of parental controls and a tool to silence notifications from the same application.

The objective of these measures is that users are protected against inappropriate content and can watch videos without affecting their environment or privacy.

According to Edgar Rodríguez, director of Public Affairs for TikTok Latin America, only from July to September 2022, around 110 million videos were removed worldwide for violation of the platform’s rules.

In México, three million videos were removed for not complying with the provisions of the application, according to the latest report on compliance with the TikTok community standards.

SINCE 2020, THE FIRST SANCTIONS

The limitations of TikTok in the United States or the European Commission are not the first in the history of the platform, since since 2020 it was banned in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, due to a series of government concerns about the content of the videos.

In June of that year, the Indian government banned TikTok and other Chinese apps, citing national security and data privacy concerns.

This decision came after a military clash on the India-China border, which increased tension between the two countries.

In 2020, the ban on the platform also came into force in Pakistan, alleging that it did not do enough to control inappropriate content, as well as violated the country’s religious and cultural values.

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In mid-2021, the Bangladeshi government also banned TikTok for similar reasons, in addition to finding the app spreading obscene and vulgar content.

TikTok has not been silent in the face of the bans. This week, as a bill for a total ban moves through the US Congress, the app responded that the move would amount to “gagging the freedom of expression” of its 100 million users in the United States.