In the second quarter of 2024, TikTok South Africa took down 614,406 videos from its platform for breaches of its community standards, which cover a range of issues from integrity and advertising to privacy and security. The details were outlined in TikTok’s Q2 2024 Community Guidelines Enforcement report, which aims to provide clarity on the company’s efforts to maintain a safe environment for its South African users.
The report sheds light on the specific content and accounts that were removed for flouting the platform’s rules. Out of the total videos uploaded in South Africa during this period, 0.6% were deleted. A notable 98.7% of these videos were identified and removed by TikTok’s proactive measures before any user could report them. Furthermore, 88.4% of the removed content was taken down within the first 24 hours of upload.
In addition to video removals, TikTok South Africa banned 143,998 accounts for guideline violations. A significant number of these, 137,663 accounts, were removed due to the suspicion that the users were below the age of 13. TikTok has been enhancing its privacy controls in recent months, particularly to align with child privacy protection laws in South Africa and internationally.
The company emphasizes its commitment to safety, leveraging advanced moderation technology to create a secure platform for users both in South Africa and worldwide. TikTok’s report also highlights the work of over 40,000 trust and safety professionals who, along with sophisticated technologies, enforce the platform’s community guidelines, terms of service, and advertising policies.
In its pursuit of transparency, TikTok has expanded its report to include new data visualizations, such as charts on video comment removals. On a global scale, TikTok’s content moderation has seen significant progress. In June alone, the platform removed over 178 million videos worldwide, with 144 million of those being detected and taken down through automated processes.
Globally, more than 20.2 million accounts were removed for suspected underage users. Additionally, TikTok eliminated 144 million fake likes from its platform, targeting inauthentic or automated engagements. TikTok reports that its automated technology now detects and removes 80% of videos that violate its policies, a substantial increase from 62% the previous year. The proactive detection rate has also improved, reaching a record high of 98.2% of videos being removed before any user reports them.
The report further notes a significant reduction in the number of videos restored after initial removal, indicating the improved accuracy of TikTok’s moderation technology. These advancements have lessened the burden on human moderators and minimized their exposure to inappropriate content. With a proactive detection rate of 98.2% globally, TikTok is more effective than ever in preemptively dealing with content that could be harmful to its users.
