Although TikTok announced it was banning “content that promotes conversion therapy and the idea that no one is born LGBTQ+” and has been publicly celebrating Pride Month, the platform appears to still house content promoting conversion therapy tactics. In particular, TikTok is hosting videos featuring people who are a part of the “ex-gay” movement and claim to have been “set free” from being LGBTQ. These videos have consistently earned hundreds of thousands of views.
This inconsistency is yet another example of TikTok loudly updating its community guidelines to garner positive press without actually enforcing the new rules, and thus leaving vulnerable users without the protection they were promised.