Open Access

Sarah Thibeault

• This study was conducted in the context of a master’s thesis for the M.Sc. Market and Media Sciences at the University of Technology, Arts and Sciences Cologne. It examines the censorship of LGBTQ+-content on TikTok in Germany and the United States of America, more specifically the ways in which content creators handle this censorship. The study builds on seven qualitative interviews of LGBTQ+ content creators from Germany and the USA as well as previous studies and literature. In order to achieve a scientifically valid outcome, the study also treats the dynamics of said censorship, as there is not enough literature and past scientific studies in this field to support and underly the topic correctly without own research. With its explorative qualitative study design, this thesis results in five hypotheses. This thesis is to be published before the end of 2022 and has to be seen in the light of the current events of an ever-evolving situation. Starting with the dynamics of oppression and censorship on TikTok in Germany and the USA and finishing with the consecutive tactics and ways which LGBTQ+ content creators on TikTok use to avoid the censorship, the hypotheses created can be summed up as the following: H1: TikTok creators with intersectional identities in different minority groups, such as the LGBTQ+-Community, are systematically oppressed by TikTok's algorithm. H2: The algorithm, more specifically the Auto-R system, flags affected accounts using markers and strikes and then subjects them to shadowbanning or reduced discoverability. H3: By abusing the reporting fiction on TikTok, so-called mass-reporting, content creators in Germany and the US can be targeted and harmed by other users. H4: Censorship of LGBTQ+ topics on TikTok occurs in the U.S. as well as Germany, but in different ways and to different degrees. H5: Affected content creators deal with censorship of LGBTQ+ topics using the following tactics: (1) self-censorship, (2) testing and research, (3) deliberately not censoring content and then dealing with the consequences, (4) public education about the issue, (5) organizing self-help, and (6) switching to other social media and creating secondary accounts.