Approximately 16.5 million pieces of content were removed in Türkiye last year for violating "community guidelines," Emir Gelen, TikTok's Middle East, North Africa, Türkiye public policy manager and Türkiye spokesperson, stated, emphasizing that a significant portion of these were removed from the platform before being reported.

Gelen told Anadolu Agency (AA) that there is a need to create a multifaceted strategy to ensure safety on TikTok, where over 1 billion pieces of content are shared monthly.

He explained that they manage this process with both artificial intelligence technology that automatically detects rule violations and teams of over 40,000 individuals who conduct manual reviews. Gelen also noted that moderation teams work daily to ensure that content on TikTok complies with community guidelines.

Gelen further conveyed that they proactively removed 98.9% of content violating rules in Türkiye, which is above the global average.

"Last year, we removed approximately 16.5 million pieces of content in Türkiye for violating 'community guidelines.' A significant portion of these were removed from the platform before being reported. We review complaints with responses provided by a team of trained professionals and lawyers. We greatly value collaboration with our users. If the content reported does not violate our rules, our internal legal team reviews it for potential removal if it violates the law or community guidelines. Our incident management and user feedback teams respond to the reporter by removing the content if it violates our rules or any legislation. If the content does not violate our rules or any legislation, the complaint is denied and the content remains," he explained.

'Certain actions banned'

Pointing out that certain actions have been banned on the platform, Gelen said that these can be listed as "unauthorized access to TikTok, attempts to obtain sensitive, confidential, commercial or personal information and misuse of the platform's security, integrity or reliability."

While managing their moderation processes and evaluating requests and complaints from users, Gelen explained that they benefit from policy categories created based on these banned actions.

"These categories are defined as 'honesty and authenticity,' 'privacy and security,' 'safety and courtesy,' 'mental health,' 'regulated products and commercial activities,' 'sensitive and adult themes, and 'the safety and well-being of young people.' According to our latest Transparency Report, the category with the highest content removal rate was 'sensitive and adult themes,' at 33.3%," he said.

Gelen indicated that, as with every market where they operate, they position TikTok in Türkiye as an entertainment platform. He described TikTok as "a world that allows people of all ages and backgrounds, from 13 years old and up, to have a fun time, with freedom of thought and expression, inspiring users and supporting their creativity."

He further stated that TikTok, alongside its unique rules, also shares the values ​​of the countries in which it operates.

"As TikTok, we are strongly committed to 'community guidelines' both globally and in Türkiye. We have various sanctions as soon as we detect a violation of these rules. We believe that we clearly demonstrate our approach to Turkish values ​​in our efforts towards localization."

Prioritizing safety of young users

Gelen emphasized that the safety of young people is a priority in Türkiye, as in every country.

"We offer a daily TikTok usage limit of 60 minutes for users under 18. Additionally, we are working to promote our 'Family Pairing' feature, which ensures parental control over TikTok accounts belonging to young people aged 13-18. This feature allows parents to connect their accounts with their children's, personalize security settings, adjust screen time limits and determine which content can be viewed in their feeds. We recently launched a campaign to increase the use of Family Pairing in Türkiye. Our goal is to maintain TikTok as a family-friendly platform," he added.

Gelen stated that the platform will continue to act responsibly and take steps to address any concerns, just as it has done so far. He also noted that legislative concerns are based on feedback from the public.

Highlighting the company's commitment to transparency in addressing all inquiries, Gelen mentioned efforts to correct misconceptions and ongoing dedication to this cause. He also recalled the company's participation in two Parliamentary Committee on Digital Media meetings to answer questions, emphasizing appreciation for these invitations and that the platform would gladly participate again if invited in the future.