Complaint
A representative of TikTok complained about the following comments by the presenter Amol Rajan:
This is what TikTok does masterfully, doesn鈥檛 it? 聽It is a kind of 鈥 it happens to be Chinese 鈥 weapon of mass distraction, because if you're on TikTok there is just no gap between looking at something, getting the dopamine hit, and flicking on to the next thing. 聽This is why some people said, you know, Orwell had that line where he said, 鈥渋f you want to picture the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever鈥, and actually the human future is imagine a teenager looking at a screen and doom-scrolling forever. 聽That's what TikTok is doing to us.
The complainant considered it inaccurate to refer to TikTok as 鈥淐丑颈苍别蝉别鈥 and unfair to have made such a comparison with Orwell鈥檚 vision of the future in 鈥1984鈥 without an opportunity for the company to reply.聽 The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the 大象传媒鈥檚 editorial standards of accuracy and fairness.
Outcome
While noting the complainant鈥檚 points that TikTok鈥檚 parent company is legally incorporated outside China as ByteDance Ltd and majority-owned by international investors, the ECU also noted that its operations are located in China, as Douyin Information Service Co Ltd, previously Beijing ByteDance Technology聽Ltd, and are subject to obligations involving the Chinese Communist Party. It did not consider the term 鈥淐丑颈苍别蝉别鈥 to be a misleading reflection of the company鈥檚 origins, interests and structure.聽 This aspect of the complaint was not upheld.
In relation to the allusion to 鈥1984鈥 and the description of the future as 鈥a teenager looking at a screen and doom-scrolling forever鈥, the ECU understood Mr Rajan had in mind information requested by the European Commission about TikTok鈥檚 risk management of addictive design and harmful content.聽 The ECU accepted, however, that the steps taken by TikTok to limit screen time and protect young users should have been reflected in the item, and that it breached the 大象传媒鈥檚 editorial standards of fairness in this respect.聽 Independently of the ECU鈥檚 investigations, 大象传媒 News published a posting on the Corrections and Clarifications page of bbc.co.uk which reflected TikTok鈥檚 response to allegations that its algorithms can produce an addictive effect and included a link to a page on TikTok鈥檚 website with an article by the company鈥檚 Head of Trust and Safety.聽 In the ECU鈥檚 judgement, this was sufficient to resolve the element of the complaint relating to fairness.
Not upheld/resolved