On Tuesday, a man with the name "Ukraine solider" posted a live video on TikTok shot from a window showing blocks of flats in the blazing sun. He thanked his followers in English for sending virtual gifts that can be converted into cash.
It was overcast and snowing in the city and the sounds of sirens did not match.
After the Financial Times flagged the account to TikTok, the Chinese video app removed the user but not before the stream amassed more than 20,000 views and more than 3,600 gifts were sent.
The ByteDance-owned app with more than 1 billion users is best known for its dance videos, but has recently become a news source for many young people watching Russia's invasion of Ukraine through their phones. Ukrainian accounts have helped their country by sharing their experience.
The conflict has made it more difficult for TikTok's moderation controls to be effective, allowing a proliferation of scam accounts to post fake content to attract followers and money.
There was an initial information vacuum that was vulnerable to being filled by inaccurate footage.
Richards said that in most cases, this was caused by users inadvertently posting misleading or inaccurate footage. It has led to people posting misleading content for likes, follows and views. There are people who are grifting when it comes to livestreams where donations are easy.
Financial incentives on TikTok have consequences. During livestreams, creators can receive virtual gifts, such as digital roses and pandas, and convert them into Diamonds, a TikTok currency, which can be used to withdraw real money. According to creators on the platform, TikTok takes a 50 per cent commission on the money spent on virtual gifts. The financial breakdown of video gifts and the monetary value of Diamonds is not disclosed by the company.
Several livestreams about the war in the Ukraine received thousands of virtual gifts and views. One video showed a destroyed building with mournful music, which was traced back to stock footage from a photographer in Latvia. TikTok removed several videos and accounts that were flagged by the FT for dangerous misinformation, illegal activity, regulated goods and authenticity violations.
A video of soldiers in military fatigues saying goodbye to women is one of the top-ranked posts on the platform. It has been watched 7.3 million times, but is actually a scene from a Ukrainian film.
In 2020, TikTok became the world's fastest-growing social media company, as users flocked to the platform in the pandemic. The company is trying to learn from its older social media rivals, but it has raised questions about the short-form video app's moderation capabilities.
In order to address this problem, it has been ramping up its team of moderators in Europe who review the platform's most violent and disturbing content, and it also uses artificial intelligence technology to flag offending material.
The head of the information manipulation team at the Alliance for Securing Democracy said that TikTok is in the early stages of its content moderation policies.
It's hard to know how effective it is because it has a more opaque system. He said that its messaging has been aligned with Silicon Valley.
Social media companies are under increased scrutiny in the west for not removing inaccurate content and Russian state propaganda during the escalation. Following requests by the EU, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok agreed to take down Russian state-backed media outlets.
TikTok's algorithm enables the spread of misinformation more than its peers, according to experts. The platform's editing tools allow users to easily mix audio and visual content from different sources.
On Monday, Russia's communications regulator complained that there was anti-Russia content related to its special military operation in Ukraine on TikTok and demanded the company stop recommending military content to children. He said that TikTok doesn't provide enough data for users to verify their own content.
On Friday, TikTok announced it would apply labels to content from some state controlled media.
On Sunday, TikTok said it would suspend live-streaming and the posting of new content in Russia in response to the country's recently implemented fake news law.
The company said in a post that it would review the safety implications of the law. The in-app messaging service will not be affected.
TikTok's flat-footed response stands in stark contrast to how it reacts to political content that could upset Beijing. The company removed videos of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests. In order to prevent discussion of China's treatment of U, TikTok has blocked users from using the words "labour camp" and "re-education centres" in subtitles.
The amount of fake videos on TikTok showed there was little sense of urgency among ByteDance officials.
The safety of its community is a top priority and it is closely monitoring the situation with increased resources.
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