A new peer-reviewed study suggests TikTok may be serving as a conduit for Chinese government messaging, just days before the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on potential TikTok restrictions in the United States.
The research, conducted by the Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University and soon to be published in Frontiers in Social Psychology, reveals concerning patterns in how TikTok handles content related to sensitive Chinese political topics compared to other social media platforms.
The study found that while TikTok's algorithm doesn't necessarily promote pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) content directly, it notably reduces the visibility of anti-CCP posts compared to platforms like Instagram and YouTube. This occurs despite anti-CCP content receiving nearly four times more user engagement through likes and comments than pro-CCP material.
When researchers examined searches for terms like "Tiananmen," "Tibet," "Uyghur," and "Xinjiang," they discovered TikTok displayed more irrelevant content and fewer posts critical of the Chinese government than other platforms.
A survey component of the study, involving 1,214 Americans, revealed that heavy TikTok users - particularly those spending over three hours daily on the platform - expressed more favorable views toward China's human rights record compared to users of other social media services.
TikTok's parent company ByteDance has strongly contested the findings. Spokesperson Michael Hughes called it a "flawed experiment" designed to reach "predetermined conclusions," criticizing the researchers' use of dummy accounts rather than analyzing real user experiences.
The timing of this research is particularly relevant as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments this Friday regarding a law that would require ByteDance to either sell TikTok or face a U.S. ban. While all social media platforms face scrutiny over data collection and content moderation, U.S. Intelligence agencies maintain that TikTok's Chinese ownership presents unique propaganda and security concerns.