TikTok has a white supremacy problem, creating and sharing neo-Nazi propaganda

TikTok has a white supremacy problem, creating and sharing neo-Nazi propaganda

Some accounts on the video app promote bigotry, antisemitism, violence against women, and Nazi rhetoric.

The lip-syncing music app TikTok (download for iOS or Android) merged with Musical.ly in August and its popularity quickly blossomed. App users can record a short music video to almost any song, add filters and stickers, and then share with other users.

Many TikTok users are attempting to recapture the magic of Vine, the video app that shut down last year. Others, however, are using TikTok as a platform to spread bigotry, hatred and violent rhetoric.

These accounts on the video-sharing app make calls for violence against people of color, Jews, women and push neo-Nazi propaganda, Motherboard originally reported.

"Hate speech is not permitted on TikTok. We make this very clear in our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines, and we remove inappropriate content and terminate accounts that violate our policies," a spokesperson for TikTok said in a statement sent to Download.com.

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The hashtags in question promoted Nazi slogans, violent neo-Nazi groups and anti-semitic remarks; encouraged physical and sexual violence against women; and stated support for Dylann Roof -- who is serving nine life sentences for shooting up the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.

A TikTok spokesperson told Download.com that the app takes hate speech and discrimination very seriously.

To combat content that violates the app's community standards, a TikTok spokesperson told Download.com that the company employs a moderation team, constantly adds offensive words and phrases to a growing block list, and in-app reporting from users as a line of defense.

After speaking with Download.com, the TikTok spokesperson said the account in question had been removed.

TikTok's Global Community Guidelines condemned the hashtags and accounts found by Motherboard and Download.com. Last updated in August, said that users cannot "post, share, or promote" discrimination or hate speech.

"TikTok is an inclusive community," the guidelines read. "It is not ok to attack or incite violence against other users. [Do not] post, share, or send any content that incites hatred against a group of people based on their race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, culture, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, or any other discrimination."

TikTok is also struggling to curb other offensive behavior, including the posting nude images of underage users. To better police its site, ByteDance, the company that purchased Musical.ly in 2017, said it would increase the number of moderators from 6,000 to 10,000.

Even though social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram attempt to patrol posts that violate community standards, many slip through the cracks. Download.com ran quick searches for racist keywords on the other three social media and found similar problematic content.

"Handling this issue is a challenge for the industry as a whole, but for our part we will continue to enhance our existing measures and roll out further protections as we work to minimize the opportunity for misuse," TikTok's statement said. "We are committed to promoting a safe and positive app environment for our global community and there is absolutely no place for discrimination, including hate speech, on this platform."