A TikTok logo on a mobile device. Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images
TikTok apologized on Wednesday for temporarily deleting a viral TikTok post that compared China's mass detention of Uighur Muslims to the Holocaust, citing a "human moderation error."
Why it matters: TikTok is trying to distance itself from its Chinese ownership amid recent reports that moderators have been told to censor videos that reference topics deemed off-limits by the Chinese Communist Party, and U.S. lawmakers' interest in probing the app for censorship.
Background: TikTok previously disputed that it blocked 17-year-old Feroza Aziz's viral post on Chinese Uighurs, after banning Aziz's phone on Nov. 25 over a different post that featured a picture of Osama bin Laden.
- TikTok says that ban, enacted over a violation of sharing terrorist imagery, would not have affected videos already posted to Aziz's account.
- Aziz's post on Chinese Uighurs was offline for 50 minutes, according to TikTok.
What's next: TikTok says it will review its moderation policies and is on track to release a transparency report and updated Community Guidelines within the next two months.
Go deeper: TikTok looks to downplay its China ties