ＴｉｋＴｏｋ、「無遠慮な」いじめ防止方針を撤回　障害者らの投稿に閲覧制限

【香港ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国系の動画共有アプリ「ティックトック」は4日、同社がネットいじめ防止を理由に障害者や同性愛者、肥満の人らによる投稿の閲覧を制限していたとの報道を受けて、この「無遠慮な」方針を撤回したと明らかにした。（写真は資料写真）
　ドイツ系サイト「ＮｅｔｚＰｏｌｉｔｉｋ．ｏｒｇ」は、ティックトックから漏えいした文書を引用して、「身体や精神の状態を理由に嫌がらせやネットいじめの対象になりやすい」と見なされた人々は、投稿のリーチ（他者への到達度）を制限されていたと報じた。
　報道によると、顔に損傷があるユーザーや、自閉症やダウン症のユーザーらがティックトックのアルゴリズムによる規制対象となっており、彼らの投稿は他のユーザーには見えないようになっていた。
　また、同性愛者や肥満の人たちも「その投稿動画がいじめの対象になる恐れがあるとみなされた『特別ユーザー』リストに初期設定でいれられ、リーチが制限されていた」。とりわけいじめの対象になりやすいと見なされたユーザーは、その投稿を「非推奨」カテゴリーに分類され、他のユーザーからほとんど見えない状態になっていたという。
　ティックトックは４日、ＡＦＰの取材に応じ、「アプリ内のいじめ増加に対処するため、無遠慮かつ一時的な方針を導入した。長期的な解決策としては決して設定されていなかった」と説明。
　「当初の意図は正しいものだったが、やり方が間違っていたことが明らかになった」と認め、方針を撤回し、より繊細ないじめ防止方針とアプリ内の対策機能を採用したと明らかにした。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/12/06-09:24）

TikTok has dropped a blunt cyberbullying policy, the Chinese-owned sharing app said Wednesday after a report it hid posts by disabled, gay and overweight people.
People deemed susceptible to harassment or cyberbullying based on their physical or mental condition had the reach of their posts restricted, German site NetzPolitik.org reported, citing leaked documents from Tiktok.
People with facial disfigurements, autism and Down syndrome were among those to have their posts dumped down TikTok's algorithm so others on the social network would not see them, the report said.
Gay and overweight people also ended up on a list of 'special users' whose videos were regarded as a bullying risk by default and capped in their reach, the report said.
When asked about the report, TikTok told AFP on Wednesday that it now recognised the approach was wrong and said it had dropped the policy.
Early on, in response to an increase in bullying on the app, we implemented a blunt and temporary policy. This was never designed to be a long-term solution, but rather a way to help manage a troubling trend, a TikTok spokesman said.
While the intention was good, it became clear that the approach was wrong and we have since removed the policy in favor of more nuanced anti-bullying policies and in-app protections.
TikTok did not respond to a follow-up query about the specifics of the policy. It did not say when the policy was dropped.
However, according to NetzPolitik.org, the restrictions could involve limiting posts to a local rather than global audience.
Those deemed most vulnerable had their posts put in a not recommend category so they were made nearly invisible, it said.
Strictly speaking, such videos are not deleted ?- but in fact they hardly have an audience, the report said.
Tiktok, launched by Chinese company ByteDance in September 2017, has quickly become one of the most popular social networks in the world, with young people its main market.
In November, the app hit 1.5 billion downloads worldwide, outperforming Instagram.
Users typically post short clips of themselves performing skits, lip-syncing and dancing.
But TikTok has come under scrutiny recently over whether it censors content deemed sensitive by China's authoritarian rulers.
Last week, it apologised for removing a viral video that condemned Beijing's crackdown on Muslims in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang.
A university student in California this month filed a class-action lawsuit against TikTok, accusing it of harvesting large amounts of user data and storing it in China.
US senators have also warned that TikTok's owner ByteDance could be forced to share user information with Chinese intelligence.
TikTok said in a statement in October its operations were not influenced by the Chinese government.