Ruto Meeting With CEO: Events That Can Lead To Kenyans' Ban On TikTok

Social media giant, TikTok, on Thursday, August 24 committed to removing all offensive and inappropriate content on the platform following President William Ruto's meeting with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shou Zi Chew.

According to a statement shared by State House, the move, according to the President, will ensure that content on the platform adheres to agreed guidelines.

In a virtual meeting with President Ruto, Zi Chew committed to ensuring that content is moderated to fit community standards.

During the meeting, Chew also agreed to set up a Kenyan office to coordinate its operations in the continent and pledged to hire more Kenyans on the platform.

"Kenya will work with the short-form video hosting service TikTok in reviewing and monitoring its content to ensure that it adheres to the agreed community guidelines and standards. It is our commitment that we bring up our children in the right environment.

President William Ruto holding a meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew alongside other government officials including Trade CS Moses Kuria on August 24, 2023. /PCS

"During a virtual meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew who also agreed to set up an office in Kenya to coordinate its operations in the region," stated Ruto.

The deal will see TikTok strengthen its content moderation in the country aimed at expunging content such as sexual activity, nudity, graphic content and animal abuse in order to maintain integrity on the platform.

Viral Tea takes a look at TikTok's content moderation, how it works and when your account can be banned:

About content moderation on TikTok

TikTok's Community Guidelines provide guidance on what is and what isn't allowed on the platform to help foster a welcoming, safe, and entertaining experience.

The platform has developed tools and technology to identify and remove harmful content and behaviour that goes against its Community Guidelines. These tools help advance the safety of its community and maintain the integrity of the platform.

How does TikTok detect violations and enforce its Community Guidelines?

TikTok uses both automated and human evaluation to detect and take action against violations of its Community Guidelines. If TikTok finds violations and removes that content, the account owner will be notified.

What happens if your TikTok content is under review?

If your TikTok content is under review, it will be reviewed by TikTok's Trust and Safety team to determine whether it should be removed or made ineligible for the For You feed according to its Community Guidelines. This may happen when you upload content if it gains popularity, or if it's reported.

If a violation is identified:

• TikTok remove the content and, if so, notify you of the reason.
• You'll be given the opportunity to appeal the decision.

What happens to your TikTok account if your content is removed?

If you post content that violates its Community Guidelines, you will be notified of the consequences in the Account Updates section of your Inbox. You can view a record of your violations in your Account Status.

"Our system counts the number of times your account has violated our Community Guidelines, and for each of those violations, you'll receive a strike on your account. We count strikes by policy area as listed in our Community Guidelines (for example, safety and civility) or by feature (for example, comments or direct messages) and your account will receive a strike based on the severity of the policy violation. We'll count the strikes until your account reaches the threshold for a permanent account ban. We'll notify you if you're on the verge of being banned.

"For repeated violations or depending on the severity of a single violation, we may permanently ban your account. In some cases, for violations when using certain features such as LIVE or direct messages, we may temporarily restrict access to the feature while your content is under review to ensure that you don't immediately re-engage in violative behaviour," TikTok explains in part.

When does TikTok permanently ban accounts?

TikTok may permanently ban accounts if it identifies the following violations of its Community Guidelines and Terms of Service:

1. You don't meet the minimum age or other requirements as indicated in our Terms of Service.
2. The account impersonates another person or entity in a deceptive manner.
3. You have a severe violation on your account that either:

• Post, promote or facilitate youth exploitation or child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
• Promote or threaten violence.
• Post or promote content that depicts non-consensual sex acts such as rape or molestation.
• Post content that facilitates human trafficking.
• Post content that depicts real-world torture.
• Create or use another TikTok account to intentionally avoid restrictions or a permanent ban imposed on another account.

Your account can also be banned if it has reached the strike threshold for multiple violations within a policy or feature or is found culpable of multiple violations of its Intellectual Property Policy.

How will you know if your TikTok account is permanently banned?

If your account has been banned, you'll receive a banner notification when you try to log in, informing you of the ban. You can also check your violations in the Account Status section of your Inbox through the banner notification.

Do strikes on your TikTok account expire?

Strikes on your TikTok account will expire after 90 days and will no longer be taken into consideration for a permanent account ban.

How to access your TikTok account after it's banned

If your account is banned, you can log in to the account to submit an appeal and download your personal data.

Keep in mind that TikTok will delete your personal data after a period of time in accordance with applicable laws and its data retention policy. After the deletion, your account will no longer be available.

How to appeal if your content is removed or your TikTok account is banned

If you believe your content or account has been removed by mistake, you can appeal this decision. If your appeal is approved:

• Your content or account will be reinstated (unless you've already deleted the account or content).
• The strike will be removed from your account.

Note: Deleting your content does not remove strikes, and TikTok may still issue strikes after you delete violative content.

Can you create a new TikTok account after a ban?

You can create multiple accounts on TikTok. However, TikTok may restrict or permanently ban your account if you make any attempts to avoid a restriction or ban imposed on another account you own, including:

1. Create a new account after your account has been banned for a severe violation.
2. Post violative content on a new or existing account.
3. Spread content violations across multiple accounts.

This applies for as long as the restriction remains active on your other account.

How does TikTok enforce its Community Guidelines for government, politicians, and news accounts?

TikTok uses the same content moderation practices for Government, Politician, and Political Party Accounts and news entities as it does for other TikTok accounts. This means it will remove any violative content and permanently remove the account for any single severe content violation, such as showing real-world violence or torture.

"However, because of the role these public interest accounts play in civic processes and civil society, we enforce different account restrictions in keeping with our commitment to human rights and free expression. If they reach the strike limit set for all accounts, they'll be temporarily ineligible to appear in the For You and Following feeds for 90 days," TikTok adds.

In some cases, where public interest accounts may present a particularly high risk to public safety—such as during periods of civil unrest, elections, or other high-risk social and political environments—TikTok may impose other restrictions.

If a public interest account posts content during high-risk times that promotes violence, hate, or misinformation that could undermine a civic process or contribute to real-world harm, TikTok may restrict that account from posting content for a period of 7 to 30 days, depending on the severity of the violation and surrounding risk.

"We may extend the restriction period if we determine that the actions of the account owner indicate they're likely to continue violations and public safety is still at high risk. We may also consider behaviour outside of TikTok in our decision," adds TikTok.