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🇦🇺 Australia /Culture & Society

TikTok Claims 98% of Harmful Content Removed Before Australian Users See It

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • TikTok reports removing 98% of harmful content before users in Australia see it during the first quarter.
  • The platform's global head of policy testified before a Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
  • While automated tools remove most content, one instance showed a human moderator initially allowing flagged antisemitic content before it was later removed.

TikTok claims it proactively removed 98 percent of harmful content from its platform before it could be viewed by users in Australia during the first three months of the year. The social media giant's global head of policy, trust, and safety, Zachary Hecht, presented these figures to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

For all of our community guidelines in [Quarter 1] in Australia, we removed 98 per cent of content proactively before a [user] report.

— Zachary HechtTikTok's global head of policy, trust and safety, Zachary Hecht, told the Royal Commission about the platform's content removal rates.

The commission is investigating the rise of online hate, particularly antisemitic content, which has reportedly increased on TikTok since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Hecht explained that automated moderation tools assess all content upon upload for compliance with community guidelines. Antisemitic content, including Holocaust denial and hateful conspiracies, is explicitly prohibited under TikTok's policies.

Hecht stated that over 336 million videos were posted to TikTok in Australia in 2025, with more than 270,000 removed for violating safety and civility guidelines. He also noted that TikTok's track record for removing harmful content, when reported by users, is strong compared to other platforms. An analysis by the Online Hate Prevention Institute showed TikTok removed 64 percent of reported videos, compared to Meta's 54 percent and X's 24 percent.

Our focus is on getting content moderation right at scale for billions of pieces of content.

— Zachary HechtHecht commented on the challenges and goals of content moderation on TikTok.

However, the inquiry heard of an instance where an AI moderator flagged antisemitic content, but a subsequent human review allowed it to be posted. After further attention from the Dor Foundation, an advocate against antisemitism, a final human review led to the content's removal, with Hecht acknowledging it violated policies. He emphasized the platform's focus on improving content moderation at scale.

Our focus is on getting content moderation right at scale for billions of pieces of content. That being said, it does

— Zachary HechtHecht acknowledged the complexities of content moderation, even after a piece of content was removed.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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