← Legal Glossary
Covert content manipulation
Definition
The government's central concern that China could secretly direct TikTok's recommendation algorithm — without users' knowledge — to suppress certain viewpoints, amplify others, or sow social discord to serve Chinese geopolitical goals.
Examples
- •The government argued covert content manipulation is a national security threat, not protected speech; petitioners countered that regulating based on what content a platform might display is an impermissible government purpose.