Detecting censorship/downranking in a service is quite hard to demonstrate: everyone gets a different feed; knowing what could have gone into that feed but didn't is known only to the service which generated it. Measuring the extent to which there is bias in that ranking on a given service is hard. Comparing an individual user's feeds across services won't tell you a trustworthy story, since each service has different signals about what that user likes.
Yes, it is difficult for an individual user to detect this. Collectively it is easier to notice. TikTok has already been caught multiple times biasing results in ways that many in the west generally disagree with. They can be caught again.
This is a really naive view. TikTok wouldn’t just have a banned message that pops up if you try to discuss it. Instead you’ll get a curated list on the topic that alters your perception of the popular opinion. Or some other “controversy” will fill up the feed to distract you.
Re:Here comes the first TikTok war
by bouncycastle on Thursday February 24, 2022 @07:57PM
(#30462482)
You are wrong here. Even if you think that "everyone" is talking about it, you may be actually in the same filter bubble as on all the other networks.
I don't think so. Google and YouTube is completely censored for years and people don't care.
Re:Here comes the first TikTok war
by joshspankit on Friday February 25, 2022 @10:17AM
(#30468117)
IMO this is down to two things:
1) “Wtf, why’s your dog laying on a nail??” “It doesn’t hurt enough yet” 2) YouTube is paying people enough that they make a good living and questioning the policies means potentially risking their bills not getting paid.
If everyone on Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube is talking about something, people will be talking about it on TikTok. If they aren't, that is noticeable and that too will be something people will talk about. That can actually lead to more attention on that platform due to the Streisand effect.
The primary concern would be if all the social networks censor the same thing, but that isn't a concern here due to the opposing political views unless your concern about censorship is just these platforms not allowing extreme violence, but that isn't what the article is discussing.