TikTok claims action taken on Israel-Gaza conflict videos

Bosses say platform stands against terrorism and is taking steps to protect its community

Tiktok said it had 'immediately mobilised significant resources and personnel' as a safeguard to its users during the Israel-Gaza war. Reuters

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TikTok said it "immediately mobilised significant resources and personnel" to counter misinformation following the attack by Hamas on Israel.

In response to a letter from the European Union's top tech enforcer, Commissioner Thierry Breton, the Chinese social media giant said it was "committed to transparency as we work to provide a safe and secure space for our global community".

"We remain focused on supporting free expression, upholding our commitment to human rights and protecting our platform during the Israel-Hamas war," it added.

Mr Breton had warned Google parent Alphabet to be alert to potential "illegal content and disinformation" on its YouTube platform.

He also sent similar messages last week to Elon Musk of X, formerly Twitter, Facebook and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok's Shou Zi Chew.

EU digital chief Thierry Breton warned large social media platforms about the spread of disinformation during the Israel-Hamas conflict. AFP

'Protect children and teenagers'

In his letter to TikTok, Mr Breton said the company needed to "protect children and teenagers from violent content and terrorist propaganda as well as death challenges and potentially life-threatening content".

TikTok announced it would launch a command centre so it could "remain agile" in "this fast-evolving crisis".

The Chinese tech company added it was evolving its "proactive automated detection systems in real time", to "automatically detect and remove graphic and violent content so that neither our moderators nor our community members are exposed to it".

TikTok said it would recruit more Arabic and Hebrew speakers as moderators and enforce "policies against violence, hate and harmful misinformation by taking action to remove violative content and accounts".

It also said it had removed synthetic media (text or videos which might have been created or manipulated by artificial intelligence) that has been "edited, spliced, or combined in a way that could mislead our community about real-world events".

The social media group said it "stands against terrorism".

In a statement on its website, TikTok added: "We are shocked and appalled by the horrific acts of terror in Israel last week. We are also deeply saddened by the intensifying humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. Our hearts break for everyone who has been affected."