TikTok removes Islamic State propaganda videos from its platform

Social Media app TikTok has reportedly removed accounts which were allegedly posting propaganda videos of the Islamic State group as per a company employee statement on October 22, in a new controversy. TikTok is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance which claims to have 500 million users worldwide. Notably, this would make it amongst the most popular social media applications. 

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'Around 10 accounts removed'

A TikTok employee has reportedly said 10 accounts have been removed for posting the Islamic State videos. The anonymous employee said only one of those videos had reached double digits before being taken down. The videos featured dead bodies being paraded through streets and ISIS fighters as per Wall Street Journal. It reported that posts were from about two dozen accounts, which were identified by social media company Storyful. 

In an email to a news agency, it was said Content promoting terrorist organization have absolutely no place on TikTok and that they permanently ban any such accounts and allied devices as soon as they are identified and they continuously develop stronger controls to detect suspicious activity.  ISIS fell in March but the group has remained active in several countries of the Middle East, Africa and Asia and is still radicalizing jihadists by maintaining an online presence.

TikTok allows users to create and share videos of 15 seconds and is popular among teenagers. The social media app, which allows users to create and share videos of 15 seconds, is particularly popular with teenagers. Storyful added that ISIS postings violate TikTok policies but the volume of the content itself makes it difficult for TikTok to police their platforms. 

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Recent controversies of TikTok

However this is not the first time, the app has been in controversy. In April earlier this year, TikTok was banned for some time by an Indian court over charges that it promoted pornography amongst children. The app is reportedly banned in Bangladesh and was fined heavily in the United States for illegally collecting information from Children. The company has rejected the allegations by saying that they follow local privacy laws. 

(With inputs from PTI)

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