Bytedance/TikTok Uyghur censorship

A former employee at TikTok owner Bytedance claims the Chinese government demanded the company develop algorithms to identify and automatically delete Uyghur language posts. 

The employee, who worked for a technology team that supports Bytedance's central Trust and Safety team, also alleges the company is also actively censoring and deleting content critical of Beijing. 

The employee writes pseudonymously in Protocol that the technologies created by his team 'supported the company's entire content moderation in and outside China, including Douyin at home and its international equivalent TikTok'.

Rumours of Bytedance's close relationship with the Chinese government, and its surveillance and censorship of Uyghur-related content through its Douyin and TikTok services have long circulated. 

The company has said it will open 'Transparency Centers' in Los Angeles and Washington DC for researchers to examine its content moderation practices.