TikTok removes more than 380,000 videos in U.S. for violating hate speech policy

TikTok has removed thousands of accounts, videos and comments linked to hate speech this year, the company said Thursday.

Why it matters: As the platform grows bigger and faces more scrutiny, TikTok wants to be proactive in how it approaches sensitive issues, like hate speech, especially in the lead up to the 2020 election.

• "In what can feel like an increasingly divisive world, one of the areas we're especially intent on improving is our policies and actions towards hateful content and behavior," Eric Han, head of safety at TikTok US, said in a blog post.
• "Our goal is to eliminate hate on TikTok."

By the numbers: Since the beginning of 2020, TikTok says it has removed more than 380,000 videos in the US for violating its hate speech policy.

• It also banned more than 1,300 accounts for hateful content or behavior, and removed over 64,000 hateful comments.

TikTok's hate speech philosophy centers around five principles, the company says:

1. Continually evolving the policy to address new threats.
2. Countering hate speech, behavior and groups through bans and removals. The company says it has a zero tolerance stance on organized hate groups and those associated with them, "like accounts that spread or are linked to white supremacy or nationalism, male supremacy, anti-Semitism, and other hate-based ideologies."
3. Increasing cultural awareness in its content moderation practices.
4. Improving transparency within its community around removals .
5. Investing in its teams and partnerships to better detect and triage hate speech.

Be smart: TikTok, like Snapchat, says it may also take off-platform behavior into consideration as it determines its policies.