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TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by “ugly” people and the poor

theintercept.com

141–150 of 356 posts

Re: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by “ugly” people and the poor

#141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Does that mean that rhinoplasty should be covered by insurance under the same merits of sex reassignment surgery? If someone's nose is causing as much distress as gender dysphoria, why not? Sex reassignment surgery isn't easy to get, and presumably coverage for "corrective" cosmetic surgery would also take some evidence. Patients couldn't just make an appointment on a whim.

> If someone's nose is causing as much distress as gender dysphoria, why not? I definitely agree with you on this one. But that's where I feel the line gets super blurry. This is not a white or black issue. Gender Dysphoria is an actual documented mental disorder. Feeling ugly (or in the context of this debate, being classified as ugly), in general, it's not.

Why would it be called a mental disorder? If it's a disorder, it's a physical disorder, whose symptoms are the shitty behavior of other people that it "causes".

Or perhaps a mental disorder in those other people, but that's not likely.

Re: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by “ugly” people and the poor

#142
post #64

How is this different from nightclubs having a high bar to entry? I am not saying this is an ethical thing to do, I am saying these apps are no different from nightclubs and they gotta do what they gotta do to survive. And no matter what you may say, humans prefer non ugly people over ugly people. I am sorry but this is simply how humans work. If you disagree, then you are a hypocrite. So should high end nightclubs b…

Because TikTok isn't a nightclub, it's a place for people to put their own content out on the Internet. Not just people, but primarily people living in a pathologically authoritarian state that doesn't allow them to access other places on the Internet that they could put their content on. But even ignoring the authoritarian state angle, surely you'd think it'd be weird and counterproductive for user content from YouT…

fyi tiktok isnt used in China. ByteDance has a different brand there.

Re: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by “ugly” people and the poor

#143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not about low quality content getting automatically filtered out by an algorithm because people don't like it. This is about TikTok using human moderators to prevent users from ever seeing content made by people they don't like.

What do you think "low quality" means if not "what people don't like"? TikTok doesn't care who made it; they care how the video looks.

This isn't about content being low quality or not liked. It's about content containing specific things that TikTok moderators were told to look out for.

There is plenty of extremely high quality content made by people who appear fat, poor, old, disabled, ugly, etc in their videos.

Re: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by “ugly” people and the poor

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not about low quality content getting automatically filtered out by an algorithm because people don't like it. This is about TikTok using human moderators to prevent users from ever seeing content made by people they don't like.

So, like reddit?

I don't think Reddit gives moderators instructions to remove content if it indicates that the poster has a list of undesirable characteristics like being fat or poor.

Re: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by “ugly” people and the poor

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Does that mean that rhinoplasty should be covered by insurance under the same merits of sex reassignment surgery? If someone's nose is causing as much distress as gender dysphoria, why not? Sex reassignment surgery isn't easy to get, and presumably coverage for "corrective" cosmetic surgery would also take some evidence. Patients couldn't just make an appointment on a whim.

> If someone's nose is causing as much distress as gender dysphoria, why not? I definitely agree with you on this one. But that's where I feel the line gets super blurry. This is not a white or black issue. Gender Dysphoria is an actual documented mental disorder. Feeling ugly (or in the context of this debate, being classified as ugly), in general, it's not.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder is in the DSM 5.

Re: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by “ugly” people and the poor

#146
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because TikTok isn't a nightclub, it's a place for people to put their own content out on the Internet. Not just people, but primarily people living in a pathologically authoritarian state that doesn't allow them to access other places on the Internet that they could put their content on. But even ignoring the authoritarian state angle, surely you'd think it'd be weird and counterproductive for user content from YouT…

The entitlement is too real here. Their platform, their choice for what goes on. You want something better? Go build in yourself. I have no problem with platforms self moderating. At the end of the day consumers speak with their actions. How many TV shows feature dwarfs or people with who are abnormal? Don't blame a platform for the inherit flaws in most of us. It really only serves as a black mirror to the truth.

Can't remember what was the country,where the absolute majority of parents give their children away to institutions if they were born with any mental or physical disabilities....Nice not have those nasties around,I suppose,right?

Re: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by “ugly” people and the poor

#147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not about low quality content getting automatically filtered out by an algorithm because people don't like it. This is about TikTok using human moderators to prevent users from ever seeing content made by people they don't like.

So, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube..?

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube don't have moderators hiding posts by fat or ugly people.

Re: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by “ugly” people and the poor

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, it IS a night club. The Web is not what it used to be decades ago. There is no elusive concept as "The Web", it's now just a different way for people to connect, just like going to a nightclub. It's been like that ever since the majority of the world got on it. You say "it's a place for people to put their content out on the internet", but you don't ask WHY they would do that. And I don't know if you have use…

What kind of night clubs do you go to where there's a high bar of entry — but everybody is still allowed in anyway? It's more like a strip club, where the beautiful people are unpaid strippers who don't even know that they are strippers. And even that's a poor metaphor.

Oh, no, plenty of people who are confident that they're beautiful are getting paid these days. Plenty of them stripping for it.

Spend just a little time on Twitter/Instagram/Tiktok or click on any given Patreon link and you're likely to come across new age digital strippers. If anybody is unpaid and making popular content these days, they're very unaware.

Re: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by “ugly” people and the poor

#149
post #64

How is this different from nightclubs having a high bar to entry? I am not saying this is an ethical thing to do, I am saying these apps are no different from nightclubs and they gotta do what they gotta do to survive. And no matter what you may say, humans prefer non ugly people over ugly people. I am sorry but this is simply how humans work. If you disagree, then you are a hypocrite. So should high end nightclubs b…

Because TikTok isn't a nightclub, it's a place for people to put their own content out on the Internet. Not just people, but primarily people living in a pathologically authoritarian state that doesn't allow them to access other places on the Internet that they could put their content on. But even ignoring the authoritarian state angle, surely you'd think it'd be weird and counterproductive for user content from YouT…

> it's a place for people to put their own content

Please, please, read the ToS and stop thinking like that! This is not people's own content, it's Facebook's, YouTube's, Reddit's content. If you want to own your content - you should rent a domain name, a server and host it by yourself.

Except typical social network users doesn't want to own their content. They are here for other's attention.

Re: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by “ugly” people and the poor

#150
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because TikTok isn't a nightclub, it's a place for people to put their own content out on the Internet. Not just people, but primarily people living in a pathologically authoritarian state that doesn't allow them to access other places on the Internet that they could put their content on. But even ignoring the authoritarian state angle, surely you'd think it'd be weird and counterproductive for user content from YouT…

The entitlement is too real here. Their platform, their choice for what goes on. You want something better? Go build in yourself. I have no problem with platforms self moderating. At the end of the day consumers speak with their actions. How many TV shows feature dwarfs or people with who are abnormal? Don't blame a platform for the inherit flaws in most of us. It really only serves as a black mirror to the truth.

I agree completely, but these companies need to make their policies transparent so the users will have an informed choice about their platform.

Yet for some reason, TikTok wants to hide this story. Why do you think that is?

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