TikTok says it's neutral as Fahmi follows up on bias claims

TikTok broke its silence today after weeks of claims on the perceived role of its video content during the general election last year, dismissing accusations that its moderators were politically biased in pushing videos critical of the current government.

This followed claims in a video that an opposition party member had been a moderator of the firm operating TikTok in Malaysia.

Earlier today, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the government would study the allegations.

But TikTok said there was no truth to the claim that its moderators were politically biased.

It acknowledged promoting some videos to introduce celebrities and emerging creators, but said no political ads were allowed on the platform, according to the rules set for account owners from the government, politicians and political parties. 

"To that end, we do not allow paid ads that promote or oppose a candidate, government, current leader, political party or group, or issue at the federal, state, or local level," said TikTok Malaysia's public policy head Hafizin Tajudin 

He added that content moderators had no access to tools to promote content. 

"TikTok’s content moderation decisions are based on a set of clearly defined community guidelines and have layers of checks and balances including quality assurance and third-party fact-checkers, to uphold safety and ensure fairness in moderation."

TikTok videos have been on the uptrend of late, especially during the recent general election when political party supporters made use of its wide audience reach.

Many Pakatan Harapan leaders said that TikTok videos had influenced the millions of newly registered young voters, resulting in their support for the Perikatan Nasional coalition led by Muhyiddin Yassin.