TikTok Sounds used to spread COVID vaccine misinformation - think tank

A TikTok feature that allows users to add another person's audio to their videos is being used to promote misleading and harmful content about COVID-19 vaccines, a think tank said in a new report.

The London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue analyzed 124 videos that used speech from four original TikTok videos, including two that were removed by the company for breaking its COVID misinformation rules, to push misinformation and stoke fears about vaccine side-effects. The 124 videos had more than 20 million views.

"There's a part of the content which is still able to travel," said Ciaran O'Connor, an analyst at the counter-extremism think tank. He likened the spread of misinformation though TikTok's "Sounds" feature to WhatsApp audio messages that proliferated during the pandemic.

Viral trends where users create their own videos by riffing off the same music or speech clip are a central part of TikTok. The popular social video platform, which saw explosive growth during the pandemic, said it reviews the audio of rule-breaking videos and may prevent these being used as Sounds by other users. It said these cases were caused by human content moderation errors. It also said Sounds can be reported on the app.

Audio from one video of a user implying the COVID vaccine's fast development made it unsafe and making misleading comparisons to other illnesses has been used in more than 4,500 videos, ISD found.

TikTok said it had previously limited the distribution of videos using this Sound, rather than remove it completely, as it was only deemed to be potentially misleading. Even so, the top 25 videos on the TikTok page for this Sound have been viewed a total of 16.7 million times.

ISD found many of the videos used the Sound to signal support for the statement. TikTok said it took down some of the videos using the Sound and made the Sound more difficult to find in searches after reviewing the report's findings. It removed the three other Sounds identified in the report.

"We strive to promote an authentic TikTok experience by limiting the spread of misleading content, including audio, and promoting authoritative information about COVID-19 and vaccines across our app," a TikTok spokesperson said.

ISD found the app had added labels directing to authoritative COVID information on only two of the 124 videos. The company said this was because labels were only added on videos with specific hashtags.

TikTok last week announced changes to its content-moderation systems for certain content, moving to fully automated reviewing systems for categories like nudity and violent or graphic material. (Reporting by Elizabeth Culliford; Editing by Stephen Coates)

-reuters-

TikTok gave rural Indian women fame, fun and more

NEW DELHI - When India banned TikTok, it closed a window to the wider world for legions of women outside the big cities that provided fun, fame and even fortune.

The government outlawed the video-sharing platform, and 58 other Chinese apps, this month citing data security fears.

TikTok is also reportedly under greater scrutiny elsewhere including in the United States and Australia.

Married soon after she completed college, 27-year-old stay-at-home mother Mamta Verma lives in a small town in Madhya Pradesh state.

One day, her daughter got her to install TikTok on her phone to watch the dizzying array of zany videos uploaded from across what used to be the app's biggest international market.

Instagram and YouTube are for "the big people", Verma told AFP by phone, but TikTok she liked.

She started to record and upload videos of her own.

"I started with five likes on my first video. That was a big boost for me," Verma said.

Soon, she had more than a million followers and was earning about 4,000 rupees ($50) per video with her slick robot dance routines shot inside her small, simple home.

"It's not a lot but my earnings from TikTok helped in running the house and also in managing finances for the new house. You know even 10 rupees is a huge amount for us," she said.

Breaking a glass ceiling

But it wasn't just the money.

"Before TikTok, I didn't have the confidence to talk to people. I would just do my work, and as a stay-at-home wife I never made eye contact with people or even spoke much," Verma said.

Speaking a vast number of languages and dialects, around 70 percent of India's 1.3 billion people live in rural areas, a world away from big cities such as Mumbai and New Delhi.

Amitabh Kumar from Social Media Matters, a group encouraging "social media for social change", said that for many people in this huge hinterland, TikTok was a "glass ceiling breaker".

"Instead of Bollywood and rich people, finally there was a chance for common people to create something in 15 seconds which makes you laugh or cry or think or engage," he told AFP.

Its different tools were simple to use for those who don't speak or read English or Hindi, and the app worked well on low-speed internet.

"Twitter cracked the short-form storytelling in text -- with 140 and then 280 (characters). I think TikTok did it with 15 seconds," he added.

And it reminded the urban elite of India's vast diversity and chasmic differences in wealth.

"What we, people sitting in Delhi, probably judged and made fun of was high-class entertainment for a lot of people who never got a chance to express themselves," he said.

"Here was for the first time a space that rural India was enjoying."

'Not a big person'

Another minor star was Rupali Manoj Bhandole, 29, a housewife and mother who left school at 14 living in a small town in Maharashtra state that gets piped water for an hour a day and endures frequent power cuts.

She would upload videos of herself poking fun at her weak economic status -- and soon amassed 300,000 followers.

"A person who works with a Marathi TV show called me a star... I can't tell you happy I felt," she told AFP.

"I only studied until Class 9. I'm not a big person."

Bhandole said she wept when TikTok was banned.

Conservative family

Archana Arvind Dhormise hopes the benefits she derived from the platform will last.

The 35-year-old from Pimpalgaon in Maharashtra seldom left home for fear of censure from her conservative family and neighbours.

But then the home beautician became the "Rani Mukherji of TikTok" -- a reference to a famous Bollywood actress -- dancing and miming to famous songs, and gaining 75,000 fans.

She won a local competition for one of her TikTok videos. Now she has landed a part in a short film.

"I had never in my life gone up on stage and spoken or even initiated a conversation without having a million thoughts in my head," Dhormise told AFP.

"But being on TikTok and seeing all the love I was getting gave me the confidence to keep that going, and also be confident in the real world."

Agence France-Presse

YouTube hires ex-MTV exec to create original content

YouTube said on Wednesday it hired former MTV executive Susanne Daniels to join its division that works toward creating original online series.

Daniels will manage the YouTube Originals development pipeline and oversee production, the video-sharing website said.

She will join as vice president, YouTube Originals and report to Robert Kyncl, head of content & business operations at YouTube.

YouTube's competitors Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc are getting aggressive toward producing original online series and independent low-budget films as traditional media outlets suffer from dwindling audience numbers and falling advertising revenue.

Earlier this year, Amazon announced its plans to produce close to 12 movies a year with budgets of between $5 million and $25 million. This was announced shortly after the e-commerce company signed director Woody Allen to create a TV series.

Google Inc bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

ABS-CBN launches YouTube network for 'online sensations'

MANILA - Do you want to be the next YouTube sensation?

ABS-CBN has launched a multi-channel network on the video-sharing site to boost its online content and build a roster of individuals sharing exclusive content.

The multi-channel network, called "Chicken Pork Adobo," currently has 90 creators whose channels on YouTube tackle a variety of topics such as toys, fashion, comedy, music, lifestyle, vlogs, entertainment, arts and crafts, food, parenting, and inspirational.

"'Chicken Pork Adobo' is the platform where we empower creators who may not have a chance to go on TV. 'Chicken Pork Adobo' democratizes it for everyone by harnessing and gathering all of them, and for them to leverage on each others' strengths. We want to showcase the Filipino talent to the world, not only to Filipino audiences," said Donald Lim, head of ABS-CBN Digital Media Division.

ABS-CBN said the initiative aims to help online creators make a mark in the digital space and help them become superstars "in whatever way or form."

"They have different niches, personalities, and material that won't make it on TV, but on YouTube they are popular, spectacular, fascinating, and have their own following," Lim said.

Several Kapamilya stars are among those featured in the YouTube network, including Melissa Ricks and Eric 'Eruption' Tai of 'It's "Showtime."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com