TikTok removes over 12 million Pakistani videos

Pakistan ranks second in the world for the most videos removed from the TikTok platform due to violations of community guidelines during the first quarter of 2022, with 12.5 million videos removed.

On Tuesday, the world's leading short-form video platform released its global Community Guidelines Enforcement Report, highlighting that 102.3 million videos were removed from the platform globally, accounting for approximately 1% of all uploaded content.

The United States had the most videos removed, ranking first in terms of removal rate.

The videos were removed because they violated TikTok's "robust set of community guidelines that are designed to foster an experience that prioritises safety, inclusion, and authenticity."

As per the report, 96.5 percent of videos were deleted before they were viewed in Pakistan, while 97.3 percent were deleted within 24 hours.

It was disclosed that in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the security team monitored the videos posted about the conflict and deleted 41,191 videos, 87% of which violated the policies against harmful and misinformation.

TikTok also marked content from 49 state-controlled media accounts in Russia. In addition, the platform removed 6 networks and 204 accounts worldwide for coordinated efforts to influence public opinion and mislead users about their identities.

Tiktok's primary focus on Russia's invasion of Ukraine came after the platform became a battleground for information during the conflict, with many doctored videos going viral.

To address the issue, the platform swung into action and formed a team to manually review disturbing content, flagging it with artificial intelligence technology.

After a nearly five-month suspension, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) restored TikTok's services last year, based on the popular video-sharing platform's assurances to control "immoral/indecent content."

The Chinese video-sharing platform also promised that users who are constantly involved in uploading illegal content would be blocked after PTA officials held an in-depth discussion about content moderation on the social networking app in accordance with local laws and societal norms.