TikTok deletes 1.7 million Nigerian videos

Bytedance’s microblogging platform TikTok has revealed that it has removed 1.7 million videos uploaded by Nigerian users in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, Nigeria was one of the top 50 countries where videos that broke its rules came from. During the time of the review, 176.5 million videos were taken down from the internet around the world.

Why did TikTok delete Nigerian videos?

In its Community Guidelines Enforcement report, TikTok said that 90% of content removals for the quarter occurred in the top 50 areas that violated company standards.

Its strict community guidelines are one reason TikTok deletes Nigerian videos. This policy prohibits nudity, hate speech, violence, and disinformation. For user safety and positivity, videos that break these criteria are removed immediately.

TikTok uses automated algorithms to indicate inappropriate content. These efficient algorithms have weaknesses. Unfortunately, algorithmic faults have eliminated several Nigerian users’ videos, causing irritation and dissatisfaction with the platform.

Cultural nuances also influence Nigerian video removal. One culture’s norms may offend another. To stay inclusive and respectful of other opinions, TikTok must navigate these cultural sensitivities.

Q4 2023: TikTok deletes millions of fake accounts

Over 169 million bogus accounts were eliminated worldwide between October and the end of 2023, and over 1.2 million automated comments on content, including hashtags associated with the Israel-Hamas conflict, were eliminated.

“We constantly monitor external threats and fake accounts and engagement on the platform. Our systems are constantly probed and attacked by various attackers, causing occasional measurement variations.

“Despite this, we will quickly identify and remove any accounts, content, or activities that seek to boost popularity on our platform artificially. Our phoney engagement metrics increased in Q4 2023, it added.

The company also removed 1.03 billion video likes. The social network eliminated 4.9 billion false follow requests and 720 million fake followers. TikTok detected “automated or inauthentic mechanisms” behind the erased likes, followers, and follow requests.

TikTok reported that the number of ads deleted for violating advertising restrictions increased while account-level actions were reduced in 4Q 2023.

The report states that in Q4 2023, over 1.5 million ads were removed for breaking the company’s advertising policies, an increase from Q3’s 1.3 million ads.

“We constantly examine and improve our technologies to recognise new patterns and promptly and adequately eliminate ads that violate our regulations. According to the corporation, tight standards, clever detection techniques, and constant system improvement aim to create a trustworthy, entertaining, and aligned advertising experience with our lively TikTok community.