Academic publishing in Europe and N. America

Archive Publication ethics Submission Payment Contacts
In the original languageTranslation into English

STUDY OF THE ETHICAL ISSUES IN TIKTOK

Authors

Jiaqi Wu

Rubric:Sociology
3330
482
Download articleQuote
3330
482

Annotation

In recent years, TikTok, a globally popular video-sharing smartphone application (app), has gained a reputation for capturing the zeitgeist of culture and redefining the way people use social media. This research paper aims at figuring out the ethical problem in Tiktok. After briefly describing the meaning of algorithms in life and some potential problems of using algorithms, this paper focuses on the social software TikTok, a short video application that has become very popular and controversial in recent years. This research has also used the TikTok dataset and modeling to support the spread of inappropriate text and videos. Through the analysis of the TikTok dataset and some visual data processing methods, how the recommendation system works is better displayed in this paper. By analyzing the data, the paper also makes it clear why the recommendation system brings the threat of spreading inappropriate information, both in text and videos. Additionally, the research outlines to a certain degree some challenges when solving the algorithm bias in TikTok through some examples. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the measures taken by the government and TikTok to face these problems. It emphasized that moral problems with Douyin are inevitable, but in addition to social platforms and the government, this research has concluded that there are better ways for TikTok to alleviate the problem to some extent. This paper recommends further research into more social media apps besides TikTok and further analysis of the potential problems that appeared in these apps or some common problems both share.

Keywords

Tiktok
Algorithm
Recommendation system

Authors

Jiaqi Wu

References:

[1] Y. (2016, September 28). What Are Computer Algorithms, and How Do They Work? How-To Geek. https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/44052/htg-explains-what-are-computer-algorithms-and-how-do-they-work/

[2] Mosaic, A. K.-. (2020, August 25). The Powerful Equations That Explain The Patterns We See In Nature. Gizmodo Australia. https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/08/the-powerful-equations-that-explain-the-patterns-we-see-in-nature/

[3] Sweigart, A. (2012, August 17). How Does Compression Work? - The Invent with Python Blog. The Invent with Python Blog. https://inventwithpython.com/blog/2012/08/17/how-does-compression-work/

[4] Note, M. (2011). Managing Image Collections: A Practical Guide (Chandos Information Professional Series) (1st ed.). Chandos Publishing.

[5] Tragakes, E. (2011). Economics for the IB Diploma with CD-ROM (2nd ed.). Cambridge Univ. Press.

 

[6] Cahn, A., Alfeld, S., Barford, P., & Muthukrishnan, S. (2016). An empirical study of web cookies. In: Proceedings of the 25th international conference on world wide web (pp. 891–901). International World Wide Web Conferences Steering Committee.

[7] Ghose, A., & Yang, S. (2009). An empirical analysis of search engine advertising: Sponsored search in elec- tronic markets. Management Science, 55(10), 1605–1622.

[8] DeAngelis, S. E. F. S. (2015, August 7). Artificial Intelligence: How Algorithms Make Systems Smart. WIRED. https://www.wired.com/insights/2014/09/artificial-intelligence-algorithms-2

[9] Gibbs, S. (2020, July 1). Gmail does scan all emails, new Google terms clarify. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/15/gmail-scans-all-emails-new-google-terms-clarify

[10] Kavenna, J. (2019, October 29). Shoshana Zuboff: ‘Surveillance capitalism is an assault on human autonomy.’ The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/04/shoshana-zuboff-surveillance-capitalism-assault-human-automomy-digital-privacy

[11] Finley, K. (2014b, August 11). Wanna Build Your Own Google? Visit the App Store for Algorithms. Wired. https://www.wired.com/2014/08/algorithmia/

[12] Congressional Research Service. (2020, January). TikTok: Technology Overview and Issues. https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/2020-10-01_R46543_657b0e11b8b8cc8e9dfa307a961025825318883e.pdf

[13] D. (2020, November 27). What is TikTok? Why Is It So Popular? Brandastic. https://brandastic.com/blog/what-is-tiktok-and-why-is-it-so-popular/

[14] TikTok Revenue and Usage Statistics (2021). (2021, August 4). Business of Apps. https://www.businessofapps.com/data/tik-tok-statistics/

[15] Blacker, A. (2021, January 7). Worldwide & US Download Leaders 2020. Apptopia. https://blog.apptopia.com/worldwide-us-download-leaders-2020

[16] Geyser, W. (2021, July 8). TikTok Statistics – Revenue, Users & Engagement Stats (2021). Influencer Marketing Hub. https://influencermarketinghub.com/tiktok-stats/

[17] Mohsin, M. (2021, July 1). 10 TikTok Statistics You Need to Know in 2021 [March data]. Oberlo. https://www.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics

[18] Weimann, G., & Masri, N. (2020). Research Note: Spreading Hate on TikTok. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. Published. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2020.1780027

[19] Zhao, Z. (2020). Analysis on the “Douyin (Tiktok) Mania” Phenomenon Based on Recommendation Algorithms. E3S Web of Conferences 235, 03029 (2021) NETID 2020. Published. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202123503029NETID2020

[20] Wang, C. (2020, June 7). Why TikTok made its user so obsessive? The AI Algorithm that got you hooked. Medium. https://towardsdatascience.com/why-tiktok-made-its-user-so-obsessive-the-ai-algorithm-that-got-you-hooked-7895bb1ab423

[21] T. (2020b, November 5). How TikTok recommends videos #ForYou. Newsroom | TikTok. https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/how-tiktok-recommends-videos-for-you

[22] Matsakis, L. (2020, June 18). How TikTok’s “For You” Algorithm Works. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-finally-explains-for-you-algorithm-works/

[23] Han, B., & Butler, E. (2017). In the Swarm: Digital Prospects (Untimely Meditations). The MIT Press.

[24] Warnock, C. (2020, September 8). TikTok Works to Take Down Disturbing Suicide Video as Users Share Warnings. Heavy.Com. https://heavy.com/news/2020/09/tiktok-viral-suicide-video/

[25] Associated Press. (2020, September 22). TikTok says coordinated attack behind suicide clip uploads. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/tiktok-says-coordinated-attack-behind-suicide-clip-uploads/2020/09/22/5c0b9a98-fcdb-11ea-b0e4-350e4e60cc91_story.html

[26] Hosn, J. (2020). TikTok Video Comments – David Dobrik’s top videos: Scraped video comments on David Dobrik’s top videos on TikTok. Kaggle.

[27] Databricks. (2020, April 14). Apache SparkTM - What is Spark. https://databricks.com/spark/about

 

[28] Leander, K. M. (2020, July 1). Critical literacy for a posthuman world: When people read, and become, with machines. British Educational Research Association. https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/bjet.12924

[29] Statista. (2021, June 7). TikTok MAU user ratio in the U.S. 2019, by age group & gender. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1095196/tiktok-us-age-gender-reach/#statisticContainer

[30] Benadryl. (2020, December 8). Drugs.Com. https://www.drugs.com/benadryl.html

 

[31] Nguyen, B. (2021, August 19). Don’t let your kids try these 9 dangerous TikTok trends. CyberPurify. https://cyberpurify.com/knowledge/9-dangerous-tiktok-trends/

[32] Cox, J. (2018, December 6). TikTok, the App Super Popular With Kids, Has a Nudes Problem. Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/j5zbmx/tiktok-the-app-super-popular-with-kids-has-a-nudes-problem

[33] Pre- and post-moderation. (2019, June 18). Ontheline. https://newsrooms-ontheline.ipi.media/measures/pre-and-post-moderation/

[34] Productions, B., Productions, B., Productions, B., Productions, B., Productions, B., Productions, B., & Productions, B. (2020, September 9). Blog: ANALYSIS – TikTok suicide video: it’s time platforms collaborated to limit disturbing content – AdNews. Best Soundcloud Rappers 2019. https://btoktiktok.com/2020/09/09/blog-analysis-tiktok-suicide-video-its-time-platforms-collaborated-to-limit-disturbing-content-adnews/

[35] ABC News. (2020, September 9). TikTok suicide video: It’s time social media platforms collaborated to limit disturbing content. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-09/why-so-hard-tiktok-remove-disturbing-content-suicide-video/12643832

[36] TikTok Community Guidelines. (n.d.). TikTok. Retrieved August 21, 2021, from https://www.tiktok.com/community-guidelines?lang=en

[37] A. (2021). TikTok Transparency Report 2020 H1. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/safety/resources/transparency-report-2020-1?lang=en

[38] BEUC The European Consumer Organisation. (2021). TikTok without filters. BEUC The European Consumer Organisation. Published. https://www.beuc.eu/publications/beuc-x-2021-012_tiktok_without_filters.pdf

[39] Zhong, R., & Frenkel, S. (2020, September 18). A Third of TikTok’s U.S. Users May Be 14 or Under, Raising Safety Questions. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/technology/tiktok-underage-users-ftc.html

[40] Wang, D. J. (2021). From Banning to Regulating TikTok: Addressing concerns of national security, privacy, and online harms. The Foundation for Law Justice and Society. Published. https://www.fljs.org/sites/default/files/migrated/publications/From%20Banning%20to%20Regulating%20TikTok.pdf

[41] Criminal Code Amendment (Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material) Act 2019. (2019). Federal Register of Legislation. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019A00038

https://www.kaggle.com/jhosn13/tiktok-video-comments-david-dobriks-top-videos

[42] Langvardt, K. (2018). Regulating Online Content Moderation. The Georgetown Law Journal. Published. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/georgetown-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2018/07/Regulating-Online-Content-Moderation.pdf

[43] Lidsky, L. B. (2011). Public Forum 2.0. UF Law Scholarship Repository. Published. http://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/facultypub/155

[44] Team, B. R. C. (2020, February 12). Social media: How do other governments regulate it? BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47135058

Other articles of the issue

Ronnie Wei The Pope and The Crusades
Download article in PDF3-7 pages715 views
cc-license
About us Journals Books
Publication ethics Terms of use of services Privacy policy
Copyright 2013-2024 Premier Publishing s.r.o.
Praha 8 - Karlín, Lyčkovo nám. 508/7, PSČ 18600, Czech Republic pub@ppublishing.org