TikTok sibling Douyin cuts off Cantonese live streams in China because of ‘unrecognisable language’
- Several Cantonese-speaking influencers say their live-streaming sessions on Douyin were suspended after the platform failed to recognise the language
- Language has become a point of contention in southern Guangdong province, where the local dialect Cantonese is frequently used, in addition to Mandarin
A number of Cantonese-speaking influencers on Douyin, the Chinese version of short video app TikTok, have voiced frustration after their live-streaming shows were abruptly cut off because the system failed to recognise the language they spoke.
According to screenshots posted by the live streamers, their shows were suspended either because of “unrecognisable languages or texts”.
One of the affected influencers “Guangdong liangzai feng shao”, who has 4.6 million followers on Douyin, said in a now-deleted video that he found it “ridiculous” that the platform could not recognise Cantonese.
He said he had decided to reduce the amount of clips he uploads on Douyin and added that he rarely conducts live-streaming sessions on Douyin now “because the platform restricts traffic to and even bans the accounts of Cantonese-speaking users’.
“Qin jiaoshou”, another affected streamer, asked in a video, “Banning Cantonese live streamers without a reason … isn’t this discrimination against Cantonese people and the Cantonese language?”
ByteDance, owner of Douyin and TikTok, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday during China’s week-long National Day holiday.
Cantonese is a Chinese dialect widely spoken in southern Guangdong province, as well as neighbouring Hong Kong, Macau and some Chinese diaspora communities.
China’s continuous effort to promote the use of Mandarin, its official dialect, however, has become a point of contention in Guangdong. In 2020, a proposal to change the language used by local television broadcasters to Mandarin sent protesters onto the street.
In recent years, Douyin creators who speak in Cantonese said their live streams have repeatedly been interrupted by the platform, citing the use of “unrecognisable” languages, although the app said it was working to support more dialects.
ByteDance told the Post at the time that live-streaming, launched in early 2018, was a “newer feature” and that the company was “committed to building out moderation capabilities for additional languages”, with Cantonese being a top priority.
While Douyin – which has 600 million daily active users in China, the only place where the app is available – does not have any official policy restricting the use of certain languages or vernaculars, Chinese online platforms have been under mounting pressure from censors to ensure that the content they host does not violate the law.
Over the years, internet companies have developed sophisticated censorship tools and mechanisms to appease Beijing, which considers it the duty of platforms to conduct content checks, although the government has kept rules somewhat ambiguous, allowing room for interpretation and enforcement.
Still, some content that may be considered offensive by authorities has slipped through the cracks, thanks to the use of regional dialects like Cantonese.