We don’t just follow stories, we follow up. Isobel Cockerell has been reporting on how TikTok censors people – and how users get around it – over the past nine months.   

Chinese-owned social media giant TikTok has apologized for censoring posts about protests which have rocked hundreds of cities across the U.S. in the last week. 

Earlier this week, the company responded to complaints from black users who posted videos using the hashtags #blacklivesmatter and #GeorgeFloyd and said they had received zero views. The company said the platform had experienced a “technical glitch” and issued a lengthy apology on Tuesday entitled “a message to our Black community.”

“We understand that many assumed this bug to be an intentional act to suppress the experiences and invalidate the emotions felt by the Black community,”  wrote Vanessa Pappas, TikTok’s U.S. General Manager, and Kudzi Chikumbu, Director of Creator Community.