TikTok bans gangs in Australia and New Zealand and taken down thousands of videos

Social media giant TikTok has taken action against four major Australian gangs. See what the video-sharing app has done.

Exclusive: Dozens of accounts belonging to Australian bikies have been removed from TikTok in a world first move against gangs.

The popular video sharing app has taken on the Mongols, Rebels, and Comanchero’s by permanently removing thousands of videos that spruik their gang lifestyles.

More than 2000 videos linked to Australian and New Zealand gangs have been removed, along with around 40 accounts tied directly to the Mongols, Rebels, and Comanchero clubs.

“There is no place for violent or hateful organisations or individuals on our platform, including extremists, criminal organisations, violent political organisations or individual perpetrators of mass violence,” a TikTok spokeswoman said.

Tiktok is cracking down on Australian bikies.

Posts relating to the bikies’ accounts have also been removed in Australia and New Zealand.

TikTok has vowed its battle to clean up the app is not over yet and will reactively remove any content going forward that promotes or supports gang life.

“We know that there is no finish line when it comes to online safety, and we will continue to evolve our policies, invest in people and technology and collaborate with law enforcement and other federal and state agencies to support their important work,” the spokeswoman said.

“We want our community to feel safe on our platform and share what inspires them. We think removing and banning these gangs helps to further reinforce our Community Guidelines and the integrity of our platform.”

Australian gang The Rebels have had their TikTok accounts removed.

The Comancheros have also lost their TikTok accounts.

Similar moves targeting cartels have been done in other markets, but removing and banning this type of content is a first for TikTok globally.

TikTok allows people to make videos from 15 seconds long to as much as 10 minutes. The company last month revealed 8.5 million Australian users are active on the platform every single month.

Among them are 350,000 businesses that use TikTok as a marketing tool to reach new and existing audiences.

The Albanese Government banned TikTok from being used on government devices due to security concerns over the Chinese owned app. Other counties, including NZ, the UK, the US and Canada have also banned TikTok on government devices.

Originally published as TikTok bans gangs in Australia and New Zealand and taken down thousands of videos