DIGITAL LIFE

Chinese authorities want to control content on TikTok and other short video platforms

The Cyberspace Administration said the initiative aims to create a "clear and orderly" digital environment by "identifying and correcting irregular behavior" on video platforms such as Douyin, the Chinese version of the international app TikTok, which is blocked in China.

The campaign will focus on trends such as the deliberate creation of fake content, such as the "staging of regrettable situations", impersonation or the "invention of melodramatic stories for profit", sometimes under the guise of helping vulnerable groups or alleviating poverty, local newspaper The Paper reported.

Authorities have asked platforms to carry out thorough inspections and take control measures also against the dissemination of false information through techniques such as manipulated editing, distorted presentation of facts or misuse of artificial intelligence tools.

Content that violates public decency rules, such as verbal or physical harassment in public spaces, will also be monitored, as well as videos that contain sexual innuendo or show provocative clothing, which seek to "induce interactions of a vulgar nature", the regulator pointed out.

Authorities will focus on practices that aim to attract views in ways deemed "inappropriate", especially those that target vulnerable groups. Among these practices, the regulator cited excessively sensationalist headlines and the publication of fictitious reviews of products or services.

Short video apps in China, including Douyin and Kuaishou, have about a billion users, according to the country's Internet and Network Information Center.

In recent years, regulators have launched several crackdowns on behaviors such as flaunting wealth, “false information,” “inappropriate content” and “misleading values” on these platforms, leading to the closure of thousands of accounts.

China is the country with the most Internet users in the world, but at the same time one of the countries with the greatest control over content. Popular services in the rest of the world such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have been blocked in the country for several years.

Source: lusa.pt