Campaigners lobby TikTok for freedom for all users to switch off algorithm
TikTok users in Europe will soon be able to switch off the personalised algorithm driving its For You and Live feeds. Campaigners say the UK will be left with a more toxic version of the platform.
TikTok users living in EU countries will, as of the end of this month, be able to opt out of receiving content tailored to their interests. The Chinese owned company is making this functionality available in order to comply with the EU Digital Services Act, which requires large online platforms to allow their users to opt out of such algorithmically tailored content. Such personalised feeds rely on the tracking and profiling of users which campaigners say exploits users, particularly children.
TikTok says that disabling this function will show users "popular videos from both the places where they live and around the world." Videos under the "Following" and "Friends" feeds will be displayed in chronological order when a user switches off the personalised content option.
Furthermore, European users between the ages of 13 and 17 will be opted out of personalised ads based on their online activities by default, rather than having to choose to opt out. More options for flagging up harmful content will also be available.
Lots of other platforms will be covered by this legislation including X, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, but it's TikTok that has been a particular concern for campaigners given its appeal to children and addictiveness.
At the end of 2022, the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) published research showing that the accounts of a 13-year-old (which is TikTok's minimum user age) pausing briefly on videos about body image and mental health were within minutes, being served up content on eating disorders and suicide content. According to a blog post by Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH:
"TikTok identifies the user's vulnerability and capitalises on it. The vulnerable accounts in our study received 12 times more recommendations for self-harm and suicide videos than the standard accounts. Young people who engage with this content are left to cope with a staggering onslaught of more and more recommended videos in their feeds."
So, how will TikTok users in the UK be affected? The answer is that they won't be, because TikTok is not currently planning to enable them to opt out of personalised feeds because it doesn't have to. At least not yet.
Ahmed, speaking with The Guardian, called on the firm to extend this option to users everywhere.
"Given they have already built the functionality, it would be frankly ridiculous if they did not," he said.
The Online Safety Bill is still working its way through the legislative machine but the troubled Bill is expected to become law later this year. In July, the House of Lords voted in favour of a series of amendments to the Bill to prevent children and young adults being served up algorithmically driven harmful content.
Social media and other tech giants have already expressed their reservations about the Online Safety Bill, particularly provisions around encryption. At present the government and campaign groups and the tech companies remain in a stand off when it comes to encryption with the tech companies stating that either everyone has privacy or nobody does, and the government saying that compromise is necessary to protect the safety of vulnerable internet users.
TikTok, and other platforms will comply with EU legislation because of the size of the market involved. However, Apple, Signal and others are threatening to withdraw services from the UK market rather than signing up to legislation that gives the UK government the power to determine the extent of privacy users are allowed.