Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
TikTok wants to be transparent. The company has announced that it’s taking new measures to give outsiders access to the algorithms it uses to sort and share users’ videos, and it will be letting experts “observe our moderation policies in real-time.”
In a blog post published Wednesday, TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer said the changes put it “a step ahead of the industry” and challenged rivals to follow suit. “[W]e believe our entire industry should be held to an exceptionally high standard,” writes Mayer. “That’s why we believe all companies should disclose their algorithms, moderation policies, and data flows to regulators. We will not wait for regulation to come, but instead TikTok has taken the first step by launching a Transparency and…