Social-Media
TikTok is opening up the algorithm and is challenging rivals to do the same thing.
TikTok needs to be open about this. The company has confirmed that it is taking new steps to give outsiders access to algorithms that it uses to sort and distribute user images, which will allow experts to observe our moderation policies in real time.
In a blog post published Wednesday, TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer said the changes placed it a step ahead of the industry and called on rivals to follow suit. [We]re of the view that our whole industry should be held to an extraordinarily high level, writes Mayer. That's why we agree that all businesses should report their algorithms, optimization practices, and data flows to regulators.
We won't wait for the legislation to arrive, but rather TikTok took the first step of launching the Transparency and Accountability Center for Moderation and Data Practices.
The timing of the news is quite important. Facebook, Google , Apple and Amazon face the House Judiciary's antitrust panel today, and while TikTok is not one of the companies under Congressional scrutiny, it is definitely listed in the proceedings. In past appearances, Mark Zuckerberg pointed to TikTok as an example of rivalry within the social app space and used the business as a reminder of why American tech firms need to be free to fight the rise of China.
In Zuckerberg's prepared remarks, released yesterday, Facebook CEO described competition between Facebook and its global competitors as an political battle.
We believe in values — democracy, competitiveness, equality and freedom of expression — that the American economy has been built on, Zuckerberg wrote. Many other tech companies hold these principles, but there is no guarantee that our principles will prevail. For example , China is developing its own version of the Internet, based on very different ideas, and is exporting its dream to other countries.
Mayer reacts to these statements in his own blog post, saying that he wants to concentrate on fair and open competition rather than on maligning attacks by our rival – that is, Facebook – disguised as patriotism.
Yet Facebook's claims would likely find a sympathetic ear in Congress. US lawmakers have been talking about the risks of TikTok 's influence for months now, with Trump's administration going so far as to say that a ban could be in effect.
Such competition has placed TikTok in a tough spot, and that's why the company is opening up its algorithms and moderation policies. This helps the company to combat allegations that it censors material to appease the Chinese government, which is the preferred critique of US lawmakers. This also places the burden of transparency back on Facebook, which has earned a lot of fault from both the left and the right, in order to run its selective moderation policies.
Without TikTok, American advertisers will be left with a few options again, Mayer argues in his article.
Competition would dry up, and so would an outlet for American creative energies ... We are able to take all appropriate steps to ensure the long-term availability and sustainability of TikTok.
