Glad that I never installed that.

I have heard about these claims since tic-tok's inception. Glad there is actual data to back it up.

This says nothing about data capture through the app: it is solely about artificially promoting or suppressing of content within the app.

Their methodology (comparing hashtag counts) does not make sense for detecting whether content is systematically promoted and demoted to fit some agenda. I can make one video, have it artificially promoted to reach a million viewers, and that's a hashtag increment of 1. Or I can make ten videos that are all unfairly demoted and therefore barely get any views, and that's a hashtag increment of 10.

The discrepancy for Kashmir-related hashtags makes me think there are a lot of Pakistanis on TikTok who never use Instagram...