TikTok’s problems just keep mounting
The US Department of Justice has intervened in the case against TikTok, which unless it succeeds in its appeal will be forced to sell the company to a new owner or banned in the United States, arguing that if the Chinese-owned company is allowed to continue operating under the same conditions as it does now, it could interfere in November’s elections.
The new accusation is in response to the company’s appeal to try to block the government’s decision, claiming that Beijing could use the social network to influence US voters.
Is the US Justice Department feeding conspiracy theories? The evidence suggests not. A recent report by Wired shows that, in the last European Parliament elections in Germany, the extreme-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party was disproportionately favored by TikTok’s recommendation algorithms, to the point that content published by that party was constantly being sent, unsolicited, to users.
AfD has long used TikTok, typically to post fake news and racist content. Even so, the results of the recommendation algorithm cannot be explained on the basis of a campaign paid for by the party itself: there is clearly manipulation at play.
In the recent European elections, AfD garnered four new MEPs, coming second with seats in the European Parliament.
