TikTok Yanks 2.1 Million Videos by Nigerian Users

Bytedance’s short video platform, TikTok, said it removed 2.1 million videos posted by Nigerian users in the third quarter of 2024 for violating its content policy.

According to the platform, Nigeria was among the top 50 countries where videos violating its policies emanated from in Q3.

In total, 147.8 million videos were removed globally for the period under review.

In its Community Guidelines Enforcement report, the company said the top 50 markets recorded to have violated its policies accounted for approximately 90% of all content removals for the quarter.

The removed content was said to have violated one or more of TikTok’s policies, which center around Integrity and Authenticity, Privacy and Security, Mental and Behavioural Health, Safety, and Civility, among others.

Accounts removal
In the period under review, TikTok said it removed a total of 214.8 million accounts discovered to be either fake or owned by people suspected to be under 13 years of age.

Fake accounts constituted the largest number of deleted accounts for the period. According to the report, a total of 187.3 million fake accounts were removed.
In addition, 24.3 million accounts suspected to be owned by users under the age of 13 were removed, while 3.2 million accounts were removed for other reasons not stated.
“We remain vigilant in our efforts to detect external threats and safeguard the platform from fake accounts and engagement.

“These threats persistently probe and attack our systems, leading to occasional fluctuations in the reported metrics within these areas.

“Despite this, we are steadfast in our commitment to promptly identify and remove any accounts, content, or activities that seek to artificially boost popularity on our platform,” TikTok stated in the report.

The company said it also removed a total of 1.3 billion comments from videos. Other actions taken by the social media platform include removal of 1.1 billion likes from videos, the suspension of 12.2 million live sessions, and the removal of 57.2 million fake followers.

According to TikTok, the removed likes, followers, and follow requests were discovered to have come through ‘automated or inauthentic mechanisms’.
1.9 million ads removed

During the third quarter of 2024, TikTok said there was a decrease in both the volume of ads removed for violating its advertising policies and the volume of ads removed due to account-level actions.

The report shows that a total of 1.9 million ads were removed in Q3 2024 for violating its ads policies, a decrease from 2.2 million recorded in Q2.

“Advertiser accounts and ad content must comply with our Community Guidelines, Advertising Policies, and Terms of Service.

“We are continually reviewing and strengthening our systems to identify new patterns and quickly and accurately remove ads that violate our policies,” the company added.

What you should know
Despite all its enforcement actions, TikTok has been facing challenges from different countries arising from the usage and the kinds of content on the platform.

In October this year, 13 U.S. states and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits accusing the social media giant of failing to protect young users from harm.

The lawsuits, filed separately in New York, California, Washington D.C., and 11 other states, allege that TikTok’s platform is designed to be addictive, exploiting children’s vulnerability to boost profits.

The lawsuits intensify TikTok’s ongoing legal battle with U.S. regulators, with the plaintiffs seeking financial penalties and increased accountability for the Chinese-owned company.

According to the states, TikTok’s software is intentionally designed to keep users, particularly children, engaged for extended periods, raising concerns about mental health and the efficacy of its content moderation efforts.