TikTok’s data disclosure shows how social media is a Petri dish for disinformation

As the language and actions of conspiracy theorists grows ever more violent, we need to push back against online hate speech

Last week we learned that TikTok recently took action against a “covert influence operation,” as they labelled it, made up of a network of 72 inauthentic accounts with just over 94,000 followers. File photo: AP/Kiichiro Sato

Symbols are important for protest movements. They convey a message that is central to the cause. The peace sign, popularised by US anti-war activists in the 1960s, was originally designed in 1958 for the British nuclear disarmament movement. The distinctive vertical and diagonal lines represent the semaphore signal for the letters “N” and “D” — or nuclear disarmament.

More recently, in 2014, pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong adopted the umbrella as their symbol to express how their movement used this everyday item to protect themselves from tear gas projectiles thrown at them by police.