'Misgendering' and 'deadnaming' no longer permitted on TikTok in bid to avoid promoting 'hateful ideologies'

TikTok has banned practices including "misgendering" and "deadnaming" users in order to improve the overall user experience.

What are the details?

The company in a Tuesday announcement stated that the new policies would go into effect immediately and classified such infractions under "hateful ideologies."

The newly updated guidelines state that such "hateful ideologies" include "deadnaming, misgendering, or misogyny as well as content that supports or promotes conversion therapy programs.”

Cormac Keenan, the company's head of trust and safety, added, “Though these ideologies have long been prohibited on TikTok, we’ve heard from creators and civil society organizations that it’s important to be explicit in our Community Guidelines.”

The policies state that all users will be banned if they upload, post, stream, or share such content, including that which targets transgender or non-binary individuals through misgendering or deadnaming” and “content that depicts harm inflicted upon an individual or a group on the basis of a protected attribute.”

Keenan added that the new policies will help to promote safety and security on the app.

“At TikTok, we believe people should be able to express themselves creatively and be entertained in a safe, secure, and welcoming environment,” Keenan added in the update. “Our Community Guidelines support that by establishing a set of norms so that people understand what kinds of content to create on our platform and viewers know what to report to us. Our policies are designed to foster an experience that prioritizes safety, inclusion, and authenticity.”

He concluded, "We've made significant strides to improve our policies and enforcement, including our efficacy, speed, and consistency, though we recognize there's no finish line when it comes to keeping people safe. We're driven by our passion to help everyone have a good and enriching experience on TikTok."

As Associated Press on Wednesday reported, a 2021 report by GLAAD found that TikTok and other social media sites are "effectively unsafe for LGBTQ users."

The news organization added, "Along with the new guidelines, TikTok published its most recent quarterly Community Guidelines Enforcement Report. More than 91 million videos — about 1% of all uploaded videos — were removed during the third quarter of 2021 because they violated the guidelines. Of all videos removed from July to September 2021, about 1.5% were removed due to hateful behavior, which includes hate speech on the basis of race, sexual orientation and gender, among other attributes."

(H/T: The Daily Caller)