Analysts at the Disinformation Analysis Center of NASK have published a report showing that TikTok’s algorithm may be used for propaganda purposes. The study covered content visible to Polish users across six sensitive topics related to China: Xinjiang, Tibet, the Tiananmen Square massacre, Taiwan, human rights in China and re-education camps.
As the report’s conclusions state: “there are justified grounds to believe that the algorithm responsible for positioning content on TikTok may be subject to manipulation and used for propaganda purposes. This includes, among other things, actions aimed at shaping a country’s image, in this case a positive image of China. The results show that an average Polish user of the platform searching for information on China, especially on sensitive issues such as Xinjiang, Tibet, human rights and re-education camps, would receive content that is clearly pro-Chinese. TikTok has no mechanism of direct censorship (as exists in the Chinese-language version of the app, Douyin), and some topics have been treated as a “safety valve” that ByteDance uses to rebut accusations of bias and cooperation with the Chinese government”.
The study was conducted over three months (from 16 July to 16 October 2025) using six newly created accounts registered in Poland. The first twenty search results for each keyword were analyzed, and nearly 10,000 items were collected in total. Content was classified as pro-Chinese, neutral, critical, anti-Chinese or unrelated.
For Xinjiang, as many as 59% of materials were pro-Chinese, with tourism advertisements and influencer videos highlighting the region’s development and the good living conditions of Uyghurs dominating. A similar pattern was observed for the keyword “Tibet” (45% pro-Chinese content). For keywords related to human rights and re-education camps, narratives consistent with Beijing’s official line also prevailed. The exception was the Tiananmen Square massacre, where 77% of content was critical of the Chinese authorities. For Taiwan, the vast majority of materials were neutral travel content.
The report’s authors point out that accounts on the platform spread professionally prepared propaganda, often disguised as amateur content. These accounts are not labeled as state media. The scale of such activity in Polish is currently limited but may grow. The report stresses that this situation contradicts EU and Polish principles of transparency and free access to information.
NASK recommends a critical approach to content appearing on TikTok, as well as particular caution when publishing materials and data on the platform, especially by government bodies and people connected with the state apparatus. The platform, subordinate to the Chinese company ByteDance, which operates within the Chinese legal system, has the potential to become a tool for influence operations.
Source: NASK Disinformation Analysis Center report “Manipulacja algorytmami: Chiny w oczach polskich użytkowników platformy TikTok” (2026). ISBN: 978-83-68356-64-9
