“Exclusive: ByteDance censored anti-China content in Indonesia until mid-2020, sources say”, 13 August 2020

Chinese tech giant ByteDance censored content it perceived as critical of the Chinese government on its news aggregator app in Indonesia from 2018 to mid-2020, six people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The sources said that local moderators were instructed by a team from ByteDance’s Beijing headquarters to delete articles seen as “negative” about Chinese authorities on the Baca Berita (BaBe) app.

In a statement to Reuters, BaBe said it disagreed with the claims and that it moderates content according to its community guidelines and in line with Indonesia’s local laws.

Those guidelines, which are published on its website, do not mention China or the Chinese government.

Following the publication of this story, BaBe said that before the “more localised approach” it currently uses, Babe had “some moderation practices in place that were not consistent with our philosophy of having the Indonesian team deciding what is appropriate for its market.

“These guidelines were replaced in 2019 and we’ve since built and empowered local moderation teams to make decisions that suit the local market,” the statement added.

It did not immediately respond to a follow-up Reuters query asking which month in 2019 those guidelines had changed.

ByteDance in Beijing said it had no additional comment beyond the BaBe statement. China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a fax that it has consistently requested Chinese enterprises abide by international rules and local laws as a basis to develop international cooperation.

It also said that it noted the Indonesian firm’s statement and hoped media outlets would objectively and fairly report on Chinese companies’ normal overseas exchange and cooperation efforts…

[Also referred to TikTok]