TikTok is blocking searches for WGA amid the ongoing writers strike
TikTok is blocking searches for WGA amid the ongoing writers strike
Users on TikTok searching for “WGA” are met with a screen claiming that the phrase “may be associated with behavior or content that violates our guidelines.” No videos return. Users are also unable to search for the “WGA” hashtag.
TikTok has also blocked the search term “WGA strike.”
Additionally, it appears that TikTok is blocking results from any simple search that includes “WGA” in the search term. Including “WGA” in addition to another word — like “WGA support” or “WGA strong” — blocks results.
Update (9/11/23): A TikTok spokesperson told Media Matters that “WGA has been inadvertently blocked as part of the platforms’ protections against QAnon conspiracy theories.” (WWG1WGA is a common QAnon phrase.) The spokesperson added that searches for “Writers Guild of America” and “Writers Guild of America Strike” were not impacted. Searches for “WGA” and related terms now appear to function normally.
(Thanks mike591, SCB, crowsby, and others for putting in the comments)
Yet another demonstration of the dangers of allowing a communication channel to be controlled by an entity whose motives aren’t aligned with what the users of that channel actually want / need.
Fediverse is the best collective action I can think of against this kind of censorship.
It’s been wild over the last few years to see authoritarians cheering on corporate social media censorship, as though it will never be turned on them.
Fuck censorship.
Why would it turn against them? It aligns perfectly with their ideology.
Fediverse is the best collective action I can think of against this kind of censorship.
The ideal if the Fediverse, yes. The reality of it, with Lemmy in particular, is that we have admins with the power to censor or curate as they wish, and while they may not be able to censor the entire fediverse, if they control a large chunk of it, it still has an effect on what users can see.
It’s not perfect, but I’m beginning to think it’s the best we will get. It’s probably the best we deserve. So many instances immediately turned into r/Politics. Proving that it wasn’t Reddit which was infested with brain rot. It’s the users.
The CCP has a more active presence on Lemmy than TikTok
The CCP controls the entirety of TikTok. Here you might have some instances controlled by tankies and a higher percentage of tankie users, but the vast majority of instances are managed by “normal” people.
Oh but didn't you hear? China is a paradise for workers and definitely not capitalist in any way
Update (9/11/23): A TikTok spokesperson told Media Matters that “WGA has been inadvertently blocked as part of the platforms' protections against QAnon conspiracy theories.” Searches for “WGA” and related terms now appear to function normally.
For those fortunate enough to be out of the loop, one of the qanon catch phrases is "Where we go one we go all" which is some bastardized version of the three musketeers "all for one, one for all." It's often abbreviated as WWGOWGA, which you'll see on bumper stickers to helpfully let you know the driver has completely lost touch of reality so you should give them plenty of space. I've never seen it shortened to WGA, but that is plausible.
They probably used some bad RegEx like
^.*WGA$because the QAnon people swap the “O” out for a “1” sometimes and the dev tasked with blocking QAnon shit was like, “Fuck it. I’m blocking it all.”
Ok yeah accidentally mistaking it for an abbreviation of wwg1wga makes sense actually
wwg1wga
Huh, what a terrible initialism.
Well that's good
This is good to know and I'm glad to hear.
As an aside, do we have a system for OP to pin this comment to the top? This context is pretty important.
riiiight
The spokesperson added that searches for “Writers Guild of America” and “Writers Guild of America Strike” were not impacted.
Ok, if that’s true I can believe that.
BULLSHIT. China doesn't want their citizens witnessing workforce strikes; especially ones where the celebrities striking are on Chinese TVs and movie screens.
Reminder: China isn't communist - it somehow cares about worker enfranchisement even less than the US.
Reminder: America isn’t a capitalist country because there are antitrust laws.
/s
TikTok is a product from a private company called ByteDance.
I'm well aware - they approached me with a lucrative job offer years ago, which I declined because I knew who they were.
Are you so naiive as to imagine that a major social media platform headquartered in Beijing is not censoring content at the direction of the CCP when there's multiple, credible sources pointing to collusion between them?
TikTok executive refuses Jake Tapper's multiple requests to acknowledge China's treatment of Uyghurs
TikTok's owner is helping China's campaign of repression in Xinjiang, report finds
Xinjiang's TikTok wipes away evidence of Uyghur persecution
Exclusive: ByteDance censored anti-China content in Indonesia until mid-2020
Revealed: how TikTok censors videos that do not please Beijing
Here's the TikTok CEO addressing Congress as it relates to their management of US data.
I wonder if you'll:
-
Engage the point (to fight a losing battle),
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Pivot to whataboutism and American diabolism that fails to engage the point, or
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Do the smartest thing under the circumstances (assuming you're incapable of learning) and quietly skulk away.
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Companies in China have to fully comply with anything the government wants. It may be a private company but that doesn't mean they can refuse the government like US companies can.
My guess is that the studios and/or right-wing trolls reported WGA posts as abuse, and "the algorithm" did the rest.
Yep. Another problem with allowing content to be spoon-fed to us by The Algorithm.
Yeah my algo plays a fair amount of WGA content.
Hmm. How will I hack my Windows XP to activate it if I can't search for Windows Genuine Advantage?
https://tinyurl.com/winxphactivator
You're welcome.
WTF? What do they gain or lose from all of this!?
Probably money. Given enough money, I’m sure tiktok will ban any search term
Looks like it was an inadvertent block according to the update on that article. At least there's a reason for what's happened
China doesn't want people to know about the strength of unity
Not the World Canadian Bureau!
Why would people even use TikTok? I don't understand the idiocy.
These guys can't even commie right...
Jfc...
Does anyone even care about the plight of labour anymore? Politically wise?
China? The source of most products keeping our capitalist world going? What about it was supposed to be communist again?
I was thinking the same thing!
Strikebreaking for the Glorious Worker's Revolution! That's how it's supposed to work, right?
???
That's TikTok, from a private corporation. They do not represent the CPC or the Chinese Government.
Comes up fine for me
What's with people not reading?
From the article which has also been updated in the blurb.
Update (9/11/23): A TikTok spokesperson told Media Matters that “WGA has been inadvertently blocked as part of the platforms’ protections against QAnon conspiracy theories.” (WWG1WGA is a common QAnon phrase.) The spokesperson added that searches for “Writers Guild of America” and “Writers Guild of America Strike” were not impacted. Searches for “WGA” and related terms now appear to function normally.
Bring back the peripheral show assholes
But assholes are common equipment...