Do Not Be Angry! Now TikTok Automatically Delete Violent Videos

TikTok, now can automatically delete videos that are deemed to violate their rules and regulations. (photo: Solen Feyissa/unsplash)

JAKARTA - TikTok is taking an automated approach to moderating user-uploaded content. The platform will now automatically remove videos that violate the TikTok Community Guidelines.

In a post on the TikTok Newsroom, TikTok announced its efforts to make content removal more efficient. Previously, videos on TikTok went through a preliminary filter that checked whether the video violated TikTok's guidelines or not. If a video is flagged, then a member of the TikTok security team will review it and decide whether or not to remove it.

But now, TikTok is releasing a human review of the removal process section in the US and Canada. Its content moderation technology will automatically review and remove certain types of content, all without human assistance.

TikTok's technology will only handle videos that "have the highest degree of accuracy" in identifying. This includes videos that violate TikTok's policies on adult nudity, child safety, sexual content, and violence.

However, the human side of the TikTok safety team will not stand still. They will be tasked with dealing with more nuanced content, such as bullying, harassment, and misinformation. TikTok notes that this change of pace also gives the team a “break” to watch the “sad video.”

Even though TikTok says it will continue to improve its technology to "minimize erroneous deletions", errors persist. As mentioned in a post, the platform's takedown system has a fake deletion rate of five percent. That's a pretty big chunk of video, considering that TikTok removed more than 61 million clips in the first six months of 2021.

When TikTok removes a video, the platform will notify users of their violation in the Account Update section of their Inbox. Any zero-tolerance violation will result in an immediate ban, and repeated, less severe violations may result in a ban as well.

If TikTok removes content that doesn't actually violate TikTok's policies, the creator can still appeal the removal.

Now that TikTok has partially automated its content removal system, deletion is likely to become more prominent on the platform. Videos that don't violate TikTok's policies are bound to get mixed up too. This can frustrate some users, even angry that their videos were suddenly deleted, without warning.

In fact, it's hard to replace the human eye when moderating content, so don't be surprised to see TikTok's takedown rate spike even higher in the next TikTok Transparency Report.