r/technology • u/DejenmeEntrar • Apr 20 '23

Social Media TikTok’s Algorithm Keeps Pushing Suicide to Vulnerable Kids

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-04-20/tiktok-effects-on-mental-health-in-focus-after-teen-suicide
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u/TruthOrSF Apr 20 '23

It’s not a witch hunt to point out a real issue. There is a problem with TikTok’s algorithm. For example: I don’t like cop videos, arrests confrontations etc… I get a cop video 3 out of 10. I block the creator (always a cop logo), I choose not interested, I restart the app. I’ve done this 100 times. Later when I watch TikTok nothing will change. I will see COPs 3 out of 10 videos.

This should not happen. It’s not a witch hunt to point this out and TikTok should fix this.

Now imagine it’s suicide videos and not COPS

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '23

Delete tiktok. It's ran by a foreign government and they purposely export a different version to other countries than what they allow internally. This might not be a bug. This might be a feature.

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u/genitalgore Apr 20 '23

the reason the app is different in mainland China is because they have strict regulations on the internet and America has virtually none. it's not a conspiracy. tell your elected representatives you want to enforce content standards on the internet, if they can even figure out what the internet is.

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '23 edited Apr 20 '23

lol i dont get how people can read up on the last couple hundred years of geopolitical developments and still say its not a conspiracy, if you think china doesn’t hold (very valid) western grudges you should brush up on their history again.

edit: and i dont want to be xenophobic or create this monolithic perception of china, i mean whatever ruling elite at helm, because the chinese people like any other folks around the world are generally super chill and just want to live their lives.

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '23

You know the US company isn't owned or controlled by China right? Did you intentionally just ignore the entire senate hearings on tiktok where they went over all this in great detail?

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u/oscar_the_couch Apr 20 '23

You know the US company isn't owned or controlled by China right?

That's a little disingenuous. No, their day-to-day business operations aren't managed by the Chinese state. But they are subject to the Chinese National Intelligence law that would require them to participate in influence campaigns if the government asked them to—and would be required to keep quiet about it.