--- title: "TikTok Reportedly Kept a Log of Users Who Watched Gay Content" description: "A group of ex-TikTok employees has blown the whistle on the company's list of users who watched so-called \"gay content.\"" date: "2023-05-06" modified: "2023-05-06" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tiktok-gay-list" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "data privacy" - "social media" - "the digest" - "tiktok" --- # TikTok Reportedly Kept a Log of Users Who Watched Gay Content ![A group of ex-TikTok employees has blown the whistle on the company's list of users who watched so-called "gay content."]() *\Image: Futurism\* ## Rainbow Listed A group of ex-TikTok employees has blown the whistle on the company's alleged practice of keeping a list of users who watched gay content for at least a year. As the [*Wall Street Journal* reports](), employees became concerned about the alleged list because it could be used to identify LGBTQ users and, if leaked or provided to hostile governments, could put those users at risk. Social media companies have long been known to maintain detailed, personal profiles of their users to serve them personalized ads. Nevertheless, social networks are discouraged from collecting more sensitive data such as any data related to sexual orientation because it could make targets of those users. ## Privacy, Please The thing that sets this alleged list apart, the report notes, is that it was not only accessible to an unusual number of employees at the Chinese-owned company, but that there were times when employees in China controlled the permissions of the list as well. In a statement to the *WSJ*, a TikTok representative said the data in question was reportedly available for at least a year, but deleted almost a year ago. She added that the Chinese government has never asked for information about US users, nor has the company ever provided such data. The report notes that TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance [created a center last year]() to house US data, in large part to appease US lawmakers, who voiced [concerns]() over the company's data-gathering practices, which could result in the app [being banned in the US](). Data about users' viewing preferences — which is grouped in "clusters" and spans genres from "alt female" to Golden State Warriors fans — have been a point of internal contention as staff and executives alike became concerned about which employees have access to what data, per the report. Since 2021, the company has revamped its content tagging system by changing it from being identifier-based to one where numbers are assigned to each content cluster. TikTok has also moved data to its new US headquarters and locked down who could access it. All the same, this allegation of an LGBTQ user list, even if it's been deleted, is troubling considering the [renewed attacks on queer and trans people]() and [otherwise in the US]() — much less in other parts of the world where [homosexuality is outlawed](). **More on social media shenanigans:** [*Cursed New Apps Use AI to Tell You What to Say on Tinder*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()