TikTok, a short-form video broadcasting platform, has announced that it has banned over 360,000 videos in Kenya over non-compliance with its community guidelines.
TikTok’s swift action through automated systems
TikTok’s quarterly Community Guidelines Enforcement Report, released Wednesday, showed 60,465 global account bans. The platform continues to enforce age restrictions, as 57,262 accounts were reported as potential under-13 accounts.
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As a measure of TikTok’s proactive approach to filtering offensive or dangerous content before it reaches viewers, the videos removed in Kenya account for 0.3 percent of all content uploaded during the reporting period. 95 percent of the infringing films were taken down within 24 hours of being flagged, and 99.1 percent were taken down before anyone even reported them.
This fantastic statistic demonstrates how TikTok is improving at identifying and removing harmful content using automated techniques.
In June 2024, TikTok erased 178 million videos worldwide. Automatically, 144 million were eliminated. Thanks to technology, the platform can detect risks more quickly and precisely, shielding human moderators from potentially dangerous content.
Addressing government concerns: TikTok’s commitment to online safety in Kenya
The upgrade follows allegations by the Kenyan government that TikTok promotes the dissemination of false information, permits fraud, and distributes explicit sexual content.
Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, TikTok’s director of government and public policy for Sub-Saharan Africa, who spoke before parliament earlier this year, said the platform’s user rules and features are intended to promote a safe and positive community.
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“TikTok is an entertaining and joyful place because of the work we put into keeping the platform safe, including investing more than $2bn in our Trust and Safety efforts this year, globally,” Mgwili-Sibanda told parliament.
In response to concerns raised by the Kenyan government, Mgwili-Sibanda said TikTok will continue to hold capacity-building workshops for policymakers and regulatory agencies on online safety, data privacy, and content moderation.
‘’We value the opportunity to contribute to keeping our Kenyan community safe on our platform and look forward to collaborating more closely with all our stakeholders in Kenya, including government, the media, civil society, parents, teachers, guardians and our wider community itself,’’ he said.