TikTok apologises for suspending US teen's account over China detention camp video

TikTok on Wednesday admits that it had made a mistake in penalising a 17-year-old girl who had posted a political video from her personal account. The Chinese company promised that it would restore all her suspended accounts on her personal device. Feroza Aziz, the teen whose account was suspended feels that she'd been the victim of censorship. 

Censorship by Chinese-owned app

The whole saga started earlier this week when Aziz tweeted that her account had been suspended by the Chinese-owned social media app. Aziz claimed that the action was taken after she urged viewers to research the harrowing conditions of Uyghur Muslims living in Chinese detention camps. Aziz's tweet went viral in no time because TikTok is owned by a Chinese company ByteDance and the tech conglomerate had recently its US operations. 

Read: US Teen's TikTok Video On Chinese Detention Camps Breaks Internet

However, the company has insisted that its US operations are independent of China's strict censorship rule. TikTok also commented on why it suspended Aziz's account over a satirical video aimed at China. TikTok insisted that it has penalised her not for her comments on China but because of a video she'd uploaded earlier. TikTok was talking about a short clip that included a photo of Osama Bin Laden. 

Read: Meet The Man Behind TikTok, The Most-controversial Social Media App Of 2019

By Wednesday evening, TikTok had restored her account and admitted that the video in question was taken down for 50 minutes, which is attributed to human error. Aziz, however, is not convinced and believes that TikTok's action was an act of censorship and it violated her freedom of expression. 

Read: TikTok Video Condemning China's Crackdown On Muslims Goes Viral, Sparks Censorship Debate

The video she uploaded went viral on the social media app and garnered more than a million views. Her message was loud and clear, that all lives should be given equal value. She said, “We got the UN to step in and help Sudan because we spread awareness, so we can do the same thing for China.” She further added, “ We can’t be silent on another holocaust that is bound to happen. We can’t be another failed generation of “what could’ve, should’ve, would’ve”. We are strong people. We can do this. Only if we try.” 

Read: Pakistan PM Knows But Keeps Mum: World Uyghur Congress President