TikTok accused of undisclosed post-boosting

In brief

TikTok employees regularly intervene to boost the distribution of hand-picked videos, according to an internal document obtained by Forbes.

The practice, known internally as “heating”, is described as “boosting videos into the ‘For You’ feed through operation intervention to achieve a certain number of video views.”

The leaked document explains that “heated” videos account for around 1-2% of daily total video views, “which can have a significant impact on overall core metrics.”

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company Bytedance, has not publicly disclosed such a policy. However, according to Forbes, the platform has used it to entice brands and creators.