TikTok Removes Specific Hashtag Search Features At Creative Center

TikTok removes hashtag search feature (photo: Creative Center screenshot)

JAKARTA TikTok launched Creative Center, complete advertising material, in the middle of last year. This platform has many features, from Trend Discovery to complete information about advertising.

This platform is the right means to observe and research TikTok. However, one of the important features of Creative Center is reported to have been removed after researchers at the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) used data from the feature.

From the New York Times report, TikTok has removed the feature to search for specific hashtag information. This feature was removed after the NCRI used the feature to track hashtags with sensitive topics for the Chinese government.

The data obtained from this feature is compared to the sensitive hashtags on Instagram. From the results of the research, NCRI concluded that many sensitive topics on TikTok are less represented than Instagram.

In a report published by NCRI, the research institute said that the specific search feature disappeared after they published the report. NCRI provided evidence that they had used the feature.

Before the NCRI report was released, the creative center of TikTok allowed specific hashtag searches so users could transparently obtain quantitative data on the number of hashtags, trends, and broadcasts of any hashtags on the platform, explained NCRI in their report.

VOI has checked the Creative Center website directly. In the Trend Discovery section, VOI did not find a specific search feature like the one NCRI had used. Apparently, TikTok deliberately deleted the feature, but the clear reason is not yet known.