There’s certainly a larger anti-zionist crowd on the app, but western tiktok is 100% still run by neoliberal ghouls
I’ve reported blatantly fascist stuff on the platform before; a comment saying race mixing is immoral, a comment saying desegregation ruined America, a video saying Gaza should be turned into a parking lot, and I’ve ALWAYS ended up getting the “we’ve reviewed your report and found no violation” thing. Exact same shit I’ve gotten with Instagram, Reddit, and pre-Musk Twitter
Meanwhile today I commented this at a The Strokes fan with an Israeli flag in their name, and fully ratio’d them before getting this notification a few hours later:
I don’t even think they need to apply pressure at the corporate level most of the time. The decision makers for stuff like this have only two sources of work that maintain their standard of living: other media companies, and government work. It’s very easy to pressure people with extremely specialized line of work,.
https://www.mintpressnews.com/tiktok-chinese-trojan-horse-run-by-state-department-officials/284353/
I agree that the method of control you outlined is a facet of exerting influence over the media. Manipulating these specialized career holders can be a good way to maintain a cohesive media narrative.