TikTok’s Parent Company ByteDance Doing Communist Chinese Gov’t’s Censorship Work

TikTok’s parent company ByteDance just got caught with a digital library of forbidden word lists used to censor people who decry its Communist Chinese overlords, according to a new report.

Forbes reported May 5 that TikTok’s parent ByteDance tracks hundreds of “sensitive words” through a “detection tool,” according to documents the outlet obtained. ByteDance is reportedly tracking “political, social and cultural topics” in order to catch and censor anything of which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) doesn’t approve. “In some cases, where words are marked ‘must kill,’ ‘forbidden’ or ‘prohibited,’ ByteDance may be blocking related posts altogether,” Forbes analyzed. 

Words are tracked for frequency of use, who used them, and where the users are located. The implications are terrifying, since the CCP owns a board seat and a financial stake in ByteDance.