KARACHI/Islamabad: The popular short-form video platform TikTok has removed nearly 12.5 million videos from Pakistan for violation of community guidelines, it emerged on Tuesday. With 12,490,309 videos removed, Pakistan ranked second in the world for the largest volume of videos taken down for violations between January and March 2022.

TikTok has released its latest Community Guidelines Enforcement Report for first quarter (January-March 2022), including updates on its commitment to support the safety of the community and foster kindness on the platform. The report reflects the platform’s ongoing commitment to earn trust by being accountable while working to be safe and welcoming. Efforts include fostering authentic engagement across the comment space, safety reminders for creators and adhering strictly to the extensive Community Guidelines.

TikTok, one of the most popular short-form video platforms, has recently shifted from solely funny content to serious and informative videos too, including political developments.

According to the report, Pakistan had a removal rate of 96.5 per cent before any views and 97.3pc before 24 hours, whereas 98.5pc proactive removal rate was used by TikTok to remove 12,490,309 Pakistani videos.

With these figures, Pakistan ranks second in the world for the largest volume of videos taken down in the first quarter of 2022, behind the US which ranks first with 14,044,224 videos removed. In this quarter, 102,305,516 videos were removed globally, which represents about 1pc of all videos uploaded to TikTok.

The videos were removed because they violated TikTok’s robust set of community guidelines that are designed to foster an experience that prioritises safety, inclusion and authenticity.

The report revealed that in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, TikTok’s safety team removed 41,191 videos, 87pc of which violated its policies against harmful misinformation. TikTok also labelled content from 49 Russian state-controlled media accounts.

The platform also identified and removed six networks and 204 accounts globally for coordinated efforts to influence public opinion and mislead users about their identities.

The report revealed that the total volume of ads removed for violating TikTok’s advertising policies and guidelines increased in the first quarter of 2022.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2022