Chinese video app TikTok, operated by Chinese group ByteDance, will follow the European Union 's voluntary code of ethics to tackle abusive hate speech online, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
Social media sites have been under growing pressure from lawmakers and policymakers to do more to combat online hate speech and misinformation, which have been criticized for helping to intensify the surge of racist attacks in some countries.
In May 2016, the Commission established a code of ethics in which internet firms collaborate with civil society groups and public officials to prevent online hate speech.Commission Vice-President for Principles and Openness Vera Jourova said the latest addition to the community , which includes Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, Google's YouTube and Snapchat, was a good move.
It's positive that TikTok has entered the community – a business preferred by young people who are especially vulnerable to online harassment and violent hate speech, she said in a statement.
Of course, I expect TikTok not only to abide by the rules of the Code, but also to comply entirely with European law while working on European soil, Jourova said.
Our main aim is to remove TikTok's animosity. We understand that this may seem an insurmountable obstacle when the world is highly divided, but we agree that this does not deter us from trying, said Cormac Keenan, Head of Confidence and Protection for EMEA, TikTok.
