Ukrainian military personnel ride on tanks headed toward the front line against Russian forces in the Luhansk region of Ukraine on February 25, 2022. Photo: TNS
Ukraine invasion: ByteDance-owned Douyin shuts down 3,500 accounts in China to stomp out provocative posts, fake information
Chinese short video app operator Douyin has also removed 12,100 comments about the war that it deems inappropriate
Its efforts reflect Beijing’s call for caution over online comments about the military conflict, which could stoke anger towards Chinese citizens abroad
ByteDance-owned Douyin said it is continuing to investigate violations “such as vulgar ridicule, content that makes fun of the war, incitement to hype false information and unfriendly comments”, the app operator said in a statement on Monday, citing provocative posts like “type ‘Ukraine’ to see explosions effect”.
Videos, such as those calling for the “capture of beautiful Ukrainian women”, spread inappropriate values and harmed the platform’s atmosphere, Douyin said on its WeChat account on Saturday.
Chinese short video-sharing app operator Douyin has cracked down on users “who make a joke out of news events”. Photo: Weibo
Efforts being taken by Douyin, Tencent Holdings’ WeChat and microblogging service Weibo reflect Beijing’s call for caution over online comments about the military conflict, which could stoke anger towards Chinese citizens abroad.
Russia’s incursion into Ukraine has sparked heated debate on Chinese social media, where there are users sympathetic towards the plight of Ukrainians and others who mock the war and cheer on Russia’s aggression.
A “Ukraine” keyword search on Douyin shows a special topic page which links to ByteDance-run news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, containing sections such as “live streaming”, “on-the-ground reporting”, “voices from locals”, “refuting the rumour” and “explanation of the war situation”.
Douyin content creators based in Ukraine have been regularly updating their situation on the platform.
A user from eastern Shandong province named Jason, who has nearly 900,000 followers, filmed a video when he and his girlfriend heard sirens in Ukraine at midnight. It showed how all the people in the building where they live had to move to an air raid shelter.
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Russian protests against Ukraine invasion continue despite risk of arrest
Russian protests against Ukraine invasion continue despite risk of arrest
Douyin, which has more than 600 million daily active users, finds itself playing a role to help shape the Chinese public’s understanding of the war in Ukraine. This is in light of Beijing’s refusal to directly endorse Russia or to call its military operation an “invasion”, which has created divisions among Chinese social media users.
At the same time, TikTok has emerged as a part of Russia’s war arsenal to shape opinion through orchestrated disinformation. Various international social media platforms – including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – have removed accounts used for misinformation. TikTok has not yet made any public announcement on this issue.
TikTok is widely popular in both Ukraine and Russia, where soldiers have been warned to avoid posting to avoid revealing troop movements.
