TikTok disproportionately served anti-Democratic videos during the 2024 election

chomp

I mean, it’s ran by Larry Ellison and the Saudis, so I don’t think this is surprising. But good research nonetheless.

outside1234

I mean I think we can expect that from the then Chinese and now Billionaires that own it

blindriver

Given the fact that the Republicans won, doesn't that actually make sense? More people consumed the pro-Republican content because they intended to vote Republican.

ineedasername

Algorithms like these typically have some foundation in the same type of vector embedding used elsewhere in AI, eg semantic and other qualities that map to overlapping or nearby latent space will drive suggested content. So, what typically trends on TikTok, goes viral, etc? Entertainment, emotional hooks. In short, anti democratic content was, on average, more entertaining or emotion provoking. That doesn't have to hold a deeper meaning on the value of any particular political viewpoint, or require tiktok's thumb on the scales of the algorithm to explain things. I'm not even saying TikTok didn't/doesn't do such things, but that type of interference isn't required to explain this trend.