A TikTok whistleblower has warned the pivot to AI content moderation will damage "the mental health of an entire generation," as she warned millions can still access US blogger Perez Hilton's self-harm livestream.
Hilton, 48, was rushed to hospital earlier this month after he live-streamed himself self-harming on TikTok while viewers begged him to stop.
The highly graphic livestream remained online for around 15 minutes and was reported thousands of times before it was taken down by TikTok, with users criticising the social media platform for the slow response.
Asked why it had taken the platform so long to remove the livestream, a US TikTok spokesperson said the video had been flagged by its AI moderation system within minutes.
Read more: Perez Hilton's family says blogger 'can communicate' after TikTok self-harm livestream
The livestream was then sent to a human moderator for review, who was presented with an “error” message while trying to take it down, the spokesperson told Vanity Fair .
But three weeks later, hundreds of versions of the video continue to circulate on TikTok - with a whistleblower warning LBC of "dramatic consequences on mental health for an entire generation of young people".
Lynda Ouazar, who worked at the platform as a content moderator between 2022 and 2025, told LBC that AI was “clearly not ready” to replace human moderator...
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