TikTok Restricts Research Tool Amid Criticism

Changes follow study suggesting content manipulation in line with Chinese government interests

TikTok has restricted a tool used by researchers to analyze popular videos, following criticism about content related to the Israel-Hamas war and a study questioning whether the company was suppressing topics not aligning with Chinese government interests.
The restricted tool is TikTok's Creative Center, which no longer allows users to search for specific hashtags and has removed certain hashtags seen as controversial to the Chinese government.
The changes came to light in an addendum to a study by the Network Contagion Research Institute, which suggested a 'strong possibility' that TikTok content was being amplified or underrepresented based on alignment with Chinese government interests.
TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek disputed the study's findings, arguing that it used flawed methodology and failed to consider that hashtags are user-created.
TikTok maintains that it enables academic researchers to study content through its Research API, which requires an application and approval from the company.