TikTok, the most popular social media app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is under the national security investigation by the US. The US lawmakers raised concerns about the TikTok company’s access to US user. TikTok tries to battle these concerns by opening a “Transparency Center“. This centre will allow the outside experts to check and verify TikTok’s practices.
TikTok Announces Plans to Open New Transparency Center in LA
TikTok has announced to open a new “Transparency Center” in LA. This centre will help more mistake in the platform’s moderation practices. According to TikTok:
“This new facility in our LA office will provide outside experts an opportunity to directly view how our teams at TikTok go about the day-to-day challenging, but critically important, work of moderating content on the platform. Through this direct observation of our Trust & Safety practices, experts will get a chance to evaluate our moderation systems, processes and policies in a holistic manner.”
The Centre is scheduled to open in May. As per TikTok, all the outside groups can see how it trains its moderators and supports its guidelines. And it will also show how the users report about the problem in the app.
The company says,
“We expect the Transparency Center to operate as a forum where observers will be able to provide meaningful feedback on our practices. Our landscape and industry is rapidly evolving, and we are aware that our systems, policies and practices are not flawless, which is why we are committed to constant improvement.”
TikTok has come under serious investigation on its moderation and data gathering with different Government and regulatory groups increasing concerns.
It was also said that the TikTok app is censoring conversation within the app in regards to the ongoing Protests in Hong Kong.
In response to each case, TikTok has updated its guidelines and processes. In the announcement about the Transparency Centre, they said, it will continue to work towards improvements in the systems. TikTok needs to make sure that it’s measures and policies are understood by everyone if the company wants to reduce its potential.
The Transparency Center will be opened in May, with the initial focus on the content moderation practices.