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

theintercept.com

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

#41

Post by afterburner »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #20

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…

> So should high end nightclubs be publicly shamed for doing what they do (when what their "users" want is exactly non-ugly people) and driven out of business?

Sure, why not?

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

#42

Post by anigbrowl »

jsjddbbwj wrote: post #27
enitihas wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Humans also prefer being politically correct, so you would surely see a lot of people shaming TikTok here.

Louder voices want to be politically correct and shame those who aren't.

It's just a preference for moral attractiveness, don't be hating!

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

#43

Post by catalogia »

capableweb wrote: post #16
linuxftw wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, like reddit?

Moderators of the subreddits in reddit are normal reddit users (normally) compared to the moderators in TikTok who I presume are selected by the company and on payroll (or contractors maybe, I seem to recall Facebook uses contractors for this)

Paying their labor seems to be a respect in which TikTok is better than reddit, not worse.

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

#44

Post by stale2002 »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #20

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…

> So should high end nightclubs be publicly shamed

If you want to do that, then go ahead.

But you should not use whataboutism to shame people into not fighting bad behavior on other platforms.

At the end of the day, this behavior is not normal on most online platforms. And users have the right to shame platforms that do this, and you are the immoral one if you are trying to attack people for doing what they believe is right.

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

#45

Post by mothsonasloth »

Everything is becoming more curated and centralised, it wouldn't take a stretch to make a dystopian outlook where eugenics and social credit is implemented through a global tech platform.

If you're not gifted with good lucks you are punished in the system.

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

#46

Post by zeeone »

Like most Hollywood productions, TikTok wants to show the healthy and the beautiful over the sickly and the ugly. This is purely driven by customer demand. The good news is that 1) TikTok a private enterprise and it can set its own rules and 2) it's in China so it won't be vulnerable to public shaming and social pressure to bend its business decisions to please fringe groups.

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

#47

Post by [deleted] »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #10

This is what happens when you mix utilitarian morality with a desire to stop online bullying. You just stop letting the most likely targets of bullying be seen. This is much cheaper and easier than trying to get rid of everyone who has ever been mean online, because that's everyone.

[deleted]

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

#48

Post by afterburner »

microcolonel wrote: post #34
ccktlmazeltov wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what a lot of nightclubs end up doing is definitely discriminatory and we should not tolerate that.

As someone who does not frequent nightclubs, I don't really see the problem with a self-selecting group of people with standards? Some people don't want to see you, and that's their business.

I mean, why give them a free pass for asshole behaviour? You can shame them and leave them alone.

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

#49

Post by keanzu »

A TikTok spokesperson said the goal was to prevent bullying on the platform, tying the document to a report from December that showed that the company was suppressing vulnerable users’ videos in a misguided effort to prevent them from becoming the centre of attention that could turn sour.

Now that is some fine spin! Reminds of the Oscar Wilde sketch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uycsfu4574w

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

#50

Post by mgolawala »

I can see how moderators would be instructed to surface content that is more "appealing" to the audience and beautiful people are no doubt going to be more appealing.

It's like the contestants on reality TV shows tend to not be ugly as well.

For some reason it _feels_ slimy but I am not sure why. Perhaps it is being confronted with the notion that the world isn't fair.

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