Read on Twitter
THREAD: This seems really alarming so I did a little digging and found that apparently ByteDance, which owns Douyin & TikTok, explained how it self-regulates livestreaming content in a detailed 2019 report. I'll break down some of the main points of the report in this thread: 1/ https://twitter.com/JoshuaDummer/status/1280877750245453828
ByteDance owns 4 Chinese platforms w/ video features: Toutiao, Douyin (OG tiktok), Xigua and Huoshan. The report "Self-regulatory Mechanism of Live Video Streaming Platforms" details the criteria and methods used to regulate content on all platforms-- based on 3 relevant laws. 2/
a summary of the graph: users are vetted through real-name registration+facial recognition. (this means foreigners can't borrow Chinese IDs to register); AI+humans work together to monitor content during the livestream; detect minors using registration info+keyframe extraction 3/
More on who can stream: All 4 platforms require users to verify identity using a private service- Sesame Credit [ https://www.wired.co.uk/article/china-social-credit-system-explained] It only supports Chinese national IDs. Ppl from HK, Taiwan, Macau & Foreigners must apply w/ a regulatory agency (didn't say which one) 4/
![More on who can stream: All 4 platforms require users to verify identity using a private service- Sesame Credit [ https://www.wired.co.uk/article/china-social-credit-system-explained] It only supports Chinese national IDs. Ppl from HK, Taiwan, Macau & Foreigners must apply w/ a regulatory agency (didn't say which one) 4/](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EcaylHuWAAEau3n.jpg "More on who can stream: All 4 platforms require users to verify identity using a private service- Sesame Credit [ https://www.wired.co.uk/article/china-social-credit-system-explained] It only supports Chinese national IDs. Ppl from HK, Taiwan, Macau & Foreigners must apply w/ a regulatory agency (didn't say which one) 4/")
How it censors real-time livestreaming content: risk assessment model, speech recognition, keywords, etc. Stuff that gets marked as suspicious then goes to human censors who evaluate content in realtime and can cut the stream, mute comments, push notifications, suspend users. 5/
The report says it has an excellent team of people that monitors and censors content 24/7, and that 99% of them are college graduates. (This is not a very well-paid job, lots of moderators are employed by third-party companies like 文思海辉 and 乐普通盈) 6/
OK now on to the criteria. It specifies how much clothing livestreamers must wear. No cleavage, the top can't be too tight, revealing, must not be able to see the shape of breasts. Skirts must not be higher than the knee. No bikinis, no bath towels, etc. 7/
The list of content that violates terms and conditions keeps getting longer. ASMR is now banned (the report calls it sensual and sexually suggestive), so is deep-fake, slime, and even livestreaming yourself eating is banned. 8/
Users are rated w/ a social credit system based on the content of their livestream/videos. Users with a score of -12 are banned permanently. The platform also vows to normalize campaigns that promote “positive energy,” one campaign aims to “pass on the communist party spirit“ 9/
