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TikTok’s algorithm is highly sensitive – and could send you down a hate-filled rabbit hole before you know it


TikTok’s highly active recommendation system is designed to keep users clicking on videos, even if they contain racist or homophobic content

TikTok’s algorithm works in mysterious ways, but a Guardian Australia experiment on a blank account shows how quickly a breaking news event can funnel users down a conservative Christian, anti-immigration rabbit hole. After the April attack on him, videos of Mar Mari Emmanuel’s conservative Christian sermons began appearing on the For You page of the blank account set up by Guardian Australia. Jordan McSwiney, senior research fellow at the University of Canberra’s Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, says TikTok’s approach differs from that of Facebook and Instagram because it has a more active recommendation system, designed to keep users engaging with videos one after the other.

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