By Arjun Narayan Bettadapur, Director, Trust & Safety, TikTok, Asia Pacific


TikTok is a place where everyone's creative side is welcome. As a company, we're motivated by a deep sense of responsibility to our community to provide a positive and safe environment for them and are driven to build a product deserving of their creativity. 

It's rewarding to know that we bring joy to so many – but it also brings great responsibility on our part. We remain committed to meeting this responsibility fully. Earlier this year, we launched the TikTok Content Advisory Council in the US, which advises on content moderation policies and a broad range of issues that our industry faces. As part of our efforts to be even more transparent, we opened our global Transparency and Accountability Centre last month for experts and lawmakers to see first-hand how we're working to build a safe and secure platform for our growing and diverse community. 

Building on our commitment to our community, today, we are pleased to announce the launch of the TikTok Asia Pacific Safety Advisory Council.  

The Council brings together thought leaders from academia, law and government from various sectors in the region, lending us the benefit of a wide variety of perspectives, which reflect the diverse nature of our platform and community. The members will provide subject matter expertise and advise on TikTok’s content moderation policies and practices to help shape regional and global guidelines. They will support us in developing forward-looking policies that not only address the challenges we face today, but also identify existing and emerging issues in APAC, which affect TikTok’s platforms and users, and develop strategies to tackle these challenges.

We are humbled to have the presence of key industry leaders in their respective fields and regions join this Council to advise and contribute towards strengthening our content moderation policies and making TikTok a place where joy and creativity can thrive. The founding members of TikTok’s APAC Safety Advisory Council are:

  • Jehan Ara, President of the Pakistan Software Houses Association and the Founder of The Nest I/O, from Pakistan is a highly regarded expert in the IT industry and will lend her expertise on general content-related issues.
  • Amitabh Kumar, Founder, Social Media Matters, from India is known for his initiatives on social digital campaigns and is highly regarded for his digital safety programmes focused on gender sensitisation, digital rights and online safety.
  • Nguyen Phuong Linh, Executive Director, Management and Sustainable Development Institute, from Vietnam advocates for the rights of marginalised groups, especially children, youth, women and people with disabilities.
  • Dr. Yuhyun Park, Founder, DQ Institute, from Singapore brings valuable experience and expertise in digital literacy, skills and readiness.
  • Prof. Akira Sakamoto, Professor, Department of Psychology, Ochanomizu University, from Japan focuses on the intersection of media and digital literacy.
  • Prof. Seungwoo Son, Professor of Industrial  Security, Chung-Ang University, from South Korea is a renowned expert on intellectual property and Internet law, which includes defamation, pornography and misinformation.
  • Anita Wahid, Activist, Gusdurian Network Indonesia and President, MAFINDO (Indonesia Anti-Hoax Society), from Indonesia is an activist at the intersection of human rights and anti-hoax who understands child safety issues and religious content needs.

In joining the TikTok APAC Safety Advisory Council,  Dr. Yuhyun Park, DQ Institute, said “TikTok is one of the most influential platforms that leads today's entertainment and creative culture. It is encouraging to see that TikTok is committed to bring various experts' opinions across the region to enhance the platform's safety. I am working with TikTok with the goal of helping it become a unique platform to be safe, ethical, and compassionate while empowering people with creativity and confidence in the digital age."

"By announcing its Asia Pacific Safety Advisory Council comprising of globally-renowned experts, TikTok has demonstrated its commitment towards transparency and to addressing challenges in the new, evolving realities and changing socio-political dynamics. I am proud to work with TikTok to promote digital responsibility in this new paradigm", said Amitabh Kumar, Founder, Social Media Matters.  

The Council will convene quarterly for discussions with TikTok regional leaders on key issues, including online safety, child safety, digital literacy, mental health and human rights, report on observations and submit formal recommendations related to the issues discussed. We look forward to expanding our Council in the future, with representatives from other markets in the region. 

We believe that the creation of this Council, and the constructive discussions that will result from it, will help us build even more trust, accountability and transparency with the community and enable them to safely discover, create and connect.