TikTok has silenced 11 pro-free speech organizations while muzzling conservatives, study finds – Fox News

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EXCLUSIVE TikTok, the popular social media app with close ties to Communist China and Chinese state media outlets, has silenced at least 11 pro-free speech organizations, according to the Media Research Center.

The Media Research Centers CensorTrack database tracked bans on TikTok and found "many groups came under fire for supposedly running afoul of TikToks leftist apparatus" in recent years.

"The Chinese Communist Party-tied TikTok is muzzling conservatives and free thinkers by shutting down their accounts, typically with no explanation," MRC researcher Gabriela Pariseau wrote.

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TikTok, the popular social media app with close ties to Communist China and Chinese state media outlets, has permanently banned at least 11 pro-free speech organizations, according to the Media Research Center. (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The MRCs CensorTrack database "found that TikTok canceled accounts associated with no fewer than 11 pro-free speech organizations since January 2019. Satire accounts, various pro-free speech groups and commentators, pro-life groups and even the MRCs own MRCTV account, are among those that TikTok shut down," Pariseau wrote.

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The 11 pro-free speech organizations or leaders impacted include Lt. Col. Allen West, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, Live Action, MRCTV, PragerU, Students For Life of America, The Babylon Bee, Daily Wire host Michael Knowles, Timcast IRL and Young American Foundation, according to CensorTrack. Many of the account holders were notified of a "permanent ban," without an option to appeal, but eventually restored months later without explanation.

"None of the 11 permanently banned organizations in this report received an explanation why. Though the platform sometimes claims that censored users violate so-called hate speech or integrity and authenticity policies, TikTok often gives no explanation for its seemingly arbitrary banning of user accounts," Pariseau wrote, adding that other organizations that have condemned communism or supported the Second Amendment have also been banned or silenced.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

TikTok, available to millions of Americans through Apple and Google online stores, is owned by the Beijing-based company ByteDance, an organization that FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr asserts is "[beholden] to the Communist Party of China and required by Chinese law to comply with the PRCs surveillance demands."

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The Media Research Centers CensorTrack database tracked permanent bans on TikTok. (Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

"TikTok banned 11 of a total of 14 (79%) censored organizations mentioned in this report. It banned five of those 11 organizations more than once," Pariseau wrote.

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The banned accounts all received the same notice, according to CensorTrack, which simply stated: "Your account was permanently banned due to multiple violations of our Community Guidelines."

Pariseau added that "no further explanation or reason for the permanent ban" was offered. When accounts are suddenly restored, no explanation is given why TikTok reversed course, either.

In 2021, the Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) group said a video in support ofKyle Rittenhousewas censored and then removed by TikTok before ultimately being restored. According to YAL, no explanation was given for the removal of the video beyond accusing it of containing "illegal activities and regulated goods," likely referring to the image of Rittenhouse carrying his gun during civil unrest in Kenosha, Wis., in 2020.

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 05: Federal Communication Commission Commissioner Brendan Carr testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Communications and Technology Subcommittee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill December 05, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Last month, Forbes surveyed hundreds of LinkedIn profiles for employees of TikToks parent company ByteDance and found that at least 300 workers had previously heldpositions in Chinese state media and 15 of them currently work for both.At the time, a ByteDance spokesperson told Forbes that hiring is decided "purely on an individuals professional capability to do the job."

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TikTok has come under increased scrutiny as U.S. officials continue to warn of the national security threat the app poses. The FCC's Carr in June called on the CEOs of Google and Apple toremove the app from their stores, citing reports that suggest the app harvests "swaths of sensitive data."

TikTok recently admitted that employees outside the U.S. could access user information, but insisted that such access required "robust cybersecurity protocols and authorization" from its U.S. security team.

Fox Business Peter Aitken, Timothy Nerozzi and Fox News Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.

Brian Flood is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent tobrian.flood@fox.comand on Twitter: @briansflood.

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TikTok has silenced 11 pro-free speech organizations while muzzling conservatives, study finds - Fox News