The global user base for video-sharing platforms like TikTok continues to grow rapidly, a fact that brings forth importance of content moderation.

TikTok has over 1.5 billion monthly active users worldwide as of April 2024, according to Social Shepherd's data. Of that, approximately 31 million are in Türkiye alone.

The platform is especially popular among younger demographics, with 31.9% of its users aged 10-19, and 29.7% aged 20-29. Every day, millions of users engage with the platform, sharing live streams and videos.

Additionally, 54.7% of TikTok's users are female, while 45.3% are male.

To bolster content moderation and user safety, TikTok is accelerating efforts to improve content moderation and user safety at its Transparency and Accountability Center, located in Dublin.

The center is responsible for enhancing TikTok’s content management and data processing to be more transparent.

AI, human moderation

The platform employs a moderation team of 40,000 specialists globally and leverages both human moderators and AI technology for content review. The center also engages in research and development (R&D) studies to plan for future transparency and security measures.

Lynn Sutton, TikTok EMEA’s head of Social Support, Partnerships and Safety, highlighted the platform’s dedication to security and privacy, with a focus on continually updating policies to ensure young users feel safe.

She also emphasized the importance of localization, stating that TikTok collaborates with governments to address region-specific concerns and ensure TikTok remains a family-friendly platform.

"We attach importance to transparency about security and privacy, as well as awareness-raising activities, constantly updating our policies in order to ensure that young people feel safe in the virtual world. Another issue we care about is localization. We work in cooperation with governments and take into account their suggestions and criticisms from them," said Sutton.

She noted different sensitivities of each region, suggesting that the company does not ignore them.

"Our goal is to ensure that TikTok remains a family-friendly platform. In the TikTok Moderation Center, we are using artificial intelligence and advanced technologies in TikTok's content moderation processes. These methods, which are used to detect inappropriate content and remove it quickly, aim to enable users to interact in a secure digital environment. In addition, the platform is constantly improving its security measures in order to ensure data privacy," Sutton explained.

129 million pieces of content removed

TikTok’s transparency reports, released periodically, provide detailed insights into the platform’s moderation processes.

The most recent report shows that in the first quarter of 2024, more than 976 million video comments were removed for violating community guidelines, representing 1.6% of all comments posted during that period. TikTok’s safety tools allowed creators to filter or remove over 3.3 billion comments during this time.

A total of 166 million videos were removed in the same period, with 129 million of them being taken down automatically by artificial intelligence without human intervention.

What's more, 97.7% of these videos were detected and removed before any user reported them.

In Türkiye, over 3.2 million videos were removed, with 98.4% identified before being flagged by users. These transparency reports continue to provide comprehensive insights into TikTok's moderation efforts.

User growth

In 2021, TikTok reached 1 billion monthly active users, a number that has since grown significantly.

By 2024, TikTok users share an astounding 34 million videos daily, equating to 272 videos per second, 16,000 per minute, and 981,000 per hour. On a monthly basis, this adds up to 707 million videos.

Globally, TikTok ranks as the fifth most popular social media platform, trailing only Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The platform’s meteoric rise in popularity, especially over a short period, is evident as it continues to engage a vast audience across the world.

TechVisa program: Türkiye's gateway to tech talent

Countries around the world are competing to attract human capital skilled in next-generation technologies. Many offer visa and investment incentives to bring in these talents, as they are essential for developing new technologies.

Türkiye's Industry and Technology Ministry this week launched TechVisa, a new program designed to attract talent with critical expertise in technology and to support innovative startups that leverage cutting-edge business models and technologies.

The program is aimed to help Türkiye to position itself as a regional hub for tech talent and innovation.

Through the TechVisa, Türkiye will provide numerous privileges and benefits to skilled professionals and tech startups, making it easier for them to integrate into the country’s tech ecosystem and settle in the country..

These include a special three-year work permit, simplified residency processes for families, exemptions from income and corporate taxes, comprehensive free health care, office space in technoparks and incubators, venture capital investments, and project financing support.

It is crucial for Türkiye to retain its existing talent while attracting new tech professionals and startups. Every country is striving to become a magnet for tech talent by first ensuring they hold on to their own skilled workers.

Race for tech talent

The global competition for tech talent is fierce, with countries and companies vying to attract the most skilled individuals. Many nations offer special visa programs and incentives to bring in technology experts.

Among the leaders is the United States, which draws attention with its H-1B visa, designed to attract talent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

However, due to limited quotas and increasingly strict immigration policies, applications have become highly competitive. Tech workers, particularly from India and China, frequently migrate to the U.S., drawn by technology hubs like Silicon Valley.

Türkiye is targeting experts in fields such as defense, manufacturing, finance, gaming, artificial intelligence, and cloud-based software, aiming to attract talent and startups to its growing tech landscape.

Global talent migration

Countries like the U.S., Canada, and European nations are major destinations for technology workers. North America is also a key draw for global tech talent. Silicon Valley is a major factor that has accelerated the talent migration.

Europe, Israel, and Singapore are also intensifying efforts to attract skilled professionals, and technology talent migration to these regions is rising.

This competition will likely continue as countries strengthen their tech infrastructures and offer more attractive living conditions to tech professionals.

TÜBISAD's Scale-Up Program aims to boost Turkish companies

The Turkish Informatics Industry Association (TÜBISAD) has introduced its Scale-Up Development Program, aimed at providing knowledge and mentorship in 10 key areas for scale-up companies on their growth journey.

These areas include research and development (R&D), sales strategies, operational efficiency, and marketing strategies. The program will also facilitate connections between participating companies and various investment networks, as well as experienced scale-up firms.

Expanding share of global growth

During an event on Sept. 17 to launch the program, TÜBISAD Chair Mehmet Ali Tombalak highlighted the size of the global information and communication technology (ICT) market, which stands at approximately $4.45 trillion.

Türkiye's current share is around $33 billion, accounting for just 0.74% of the global market.

Tombalak emphasized the need for Türkiye to increase this share by fostering companies that utilize high technology, support innovation, and produce life-changing products capable of becoming global brands.

He noted that scale-up companies, which differ from startups in their established market presence and proven products, play a critical role in this process. However, there is a lack of awareness about the potential of these companies, both within the scale-up firms themselves and in the general industry.

"Through this program, we aim to help scale-up companies discover their potential and provide them with the knowledge, experience, skills, and investment opportunities needed to achieve sustainable growth and eventually become global brands," Tombalak said.

Digital, green transformation

Ahmet Serdar Ibrahimcioğlu, head of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development and Support Administration (KOSGEB), also spoke about the importance of scale-up initiatives, focusing on the significance of "digital transformation" and "green transformation" to enhance the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Addressing the event, Ibrahimcioğlu mentioned KOSGEB's support programs, such as the SME Digital Transformation and Green Industry Support programs, which aim to maintain the competitive edge of Turkish industry.

Türk Telekom seeks to become region's tech carrier

Türk Telekom chief executive Ümit Önal emphasized the telecommunication company's efforts to position Türkiye as a technology producer and exporter.

Önal highlighted Türk Telekom's intensive research and development (R&D) efforts, as well as business cooperations to strengthen the local ecosystem.

"We are building Türkiye's digital future through our fiber and mobile networks, investments, and technology solutions. We are not only introducing the latest technologies to our country simultaneously with the rest of the world but are also working tirelessly on technology exports by focusing on innovation and production," said the CEO.

"Our goal is to become not just Türkiye's but also the region’s technology carrier. In the first half of 2024, we made concrete and significant strides in this area."

Önal emphasized the achievements of Türk Telekom’s subsidiaries, Argela and Netsia, whose international patents in 5G and next-generation broadband technologies have reached 71.

"We are the first operator globally to use Netsia’s SEBA solution, which enables more efficient management of next-gen fiber networks through artificial intelligence, on a live network," he said.

"Our services integrating SEBA have surpassed 100,000 homepasses, and the solution is being tested by leading operators in the U.K., Germany, Brazil, and Taiwan. We even made our first sale to Germany."