On TikTok, there is only “1% of content” that “poses a problem”, a manager of the French subsidiary of the Chinese social network said on Wednesday, while French President Emmanuel Macron had judged the platform to be a “disconcerting naivety”. .
“There is about 1% of the content that poses a problem in general,” said Éric Garandeau, director of institutional relations and public affairs France at TikTok, who came to explain the platform’s moderation policy during a conference in Paris, the National Assembly dedicated to “digital technology and protection of minors”.
“Harassment corresponds to (approximately) 5.7%” of this removed content. “It is a small proportion but we take this issue very seriously,” she added, adding that a third of the users of the social network are under 25 years of age.
“The first (psychological) disruptor, the most effective network among children and adolescents, is TikTok,” French President Emmanuel Macron said last Thursday during an exchange with young mental health professionals. “This network is confusingly naive. They have 10,000 very well-trained guys who push content. They know very well what you like,” he said during a trip near Poitiers (central-west). “Behind there is a real addiction” of young people.
“A Place of Lawlessness”
The head of state himself has a TikTok account with 3.2 million subscribers. Fighting bullying, autism awareness, health: he has posted several videos on this network, which is very popular among teenagers. Mr Macron also launched a “lab for the protection of children online” in November, bringing together platforms, including TikTok, but also NGOs and regulators, to respond to the growing exposure of minors to pornography, harassment and online violence.
“The digital space cannot be a place of anarchy. It is the fight that we have waged against terrorism, that we are leading against hate speech online. That is what we must continue at the level of the protection of our children”, according to Emanuel Macron. The laboratory must identify “good ways to better regulate and protect our children online,” also stressed the French head of state, who called on all “volunteer” actors to join the initiative.
Source: BFM TV
