The short video platform TikTok has throttled the reach of AfD top politician Maximilian Krah. Due to repeated violations of the platform’s guidelines, users have been informed that future videos that Krah posts cannot be recommended for the “For You Feed”, a spokeswoman for the Chinese company said on Tuesday when asked. This means that his videos will no longer be shown to users who do not follow his account.
For a good week now, the videos on Krah’s profile have had a few thousand views; in the previous months there were usually well over a hundred thousand. The spokeswoman did not say since when the restrictions on his account took effect. The measures should apply for a period of 90 days. She did not provide further details about the violations. “Spiegel” had previously reported.
TikTok is the only internationally successful online platform that does not come from the USA. In the USA – as in Europe – there are concerns that the app could be used to collect information about users by Chinese authorities or for political influence. Governments of several countries and the EU Commission banned the use of TikTok on work cell phones.
Krah, who is also the AfD’s leading candidate for the European elections in June, confirmed to the German Press Agency that his reach on the platform had been throttled. TikTok also blocked five of his videos on the grounds that they contained “hate speech” and “hateful behavior”. He was unable to understand which statements were criticized.