It might sound more than a little bit sci-fi, but short-form video sharing app TikTok is officially planning a new transparency center in LA, according to Social Media Today.
“This new facility in our LA office will provide outside experts an opportunity to directly view how our teams at TikTok go about the day-to-day challenging, but critically important, work of moderating content on the platform,” TikTok said, in a recent blog post.
“Through this direct observation of our Trust & Safety practices, experts will get a chance to evaluate our moderation systems, processes and policies in a holistic manner.”
The center will be open to external parties in May 2020, who will be able to review how the platform trains its moderators and how the company enforces its guidelines within the community, as well as how concerns are reported by users within the application, according to Social Media Today.
“We expect the Transparency Center to operate as a forum where observers will be able to provide meaningful feedback on our practices,” says TikTok.
“Our landscape and industry is rapidly evolving, and we are aware that our systems, policies and practices are not flawless, which is why we are committed to constant improvement.”
TikTok consistently reviews its community guidelines and is continuing to minimize the amount of censorship they face as a company.
“Later, we will expand the Center to include insight into our source code, and our efforts around data privacy and security,” says TikTok. “This second phase of the initiative will be spearheaded by our newly appointed Chief Information Security Officer, Roland Cloutier, who starts with the company next month.”
The initial focus of this transparency center is to modify TikTok’s policies and regulations within the community.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock