The Chinese social network TikTok has banned its users from using the term White Lives Matter. It has also restricted it from its search tools, labeling the phrase as being associated with "hateful behavior."
When clicking on the platform's search engine - categorized by video, account or popular - and typing in the phrase White Lives Matter, users are met with a message that says: "No results found. This phrase could be associated with hateful behavior." TikTok is committed to ensuring the safety of our community and working to prevent the spread of hate. For more information, we invite you to review the Community Guidelines".
Highlighting "Black Lives Matter".
This is not the first time this has happened. TikTok uses the same method of redirecting its users to a "no results found" page to hide those accounts it considers to be making "offensive comments."
However, the platform allows fake news to go viral. For example: a video which announced the alleged resignation of former President Donald Trump. It also eliminated videos that parodied Dr. Anthony Fauci, and threatened to censor any criticism of President Joe Biden. In contrast, a previous trend that the Chinese platform did allow to standout in its popular content was based on videos of users threatening to violently kneecap people who did not support the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
White Lives Matter, a censored term
White Lives Matter regained prominence after Ye -Kanye West- introduced a new clothing line with this slogan and modeled it with Candace Owens -blogger and commentator-, which generated huge criticism from BLM advocates. However, West claims that the phrase expresses that not only do black lives matter or have value, but white lives do as well.
The artist also stated that "friends" threatened to kill him if he decided to use the term in his clothing line. Last night they called me and told me: "Anyone wearing a T-shirt from White Lives Matter is going to get the green light," and that basically means they're going to get their asses kicked if they wear it."
For her part, Candace Owens said that she "gladly" accepted Ye's offer to appear together with the T-shirts, and that the criticisms are just to show the hypocrisy of the BLM movement: "What he offered was a startling commentary on the hypocrisy of the society we live in: for years, we were told that Black Lives Matter was not an exclusionary phrase." Well, we try "not to leave out the whites."
Owens added that society accepted other Lives Matter slogans as long as they did not single out the white race, which is also considered discrimination.
