News

TikTok Update Promotes Safer Content Creation And Sharing

A major update to the platform’s Community Guidelines coincides with the introduction of several new features designed to improve transparency.

Published

2 years ago

April 22, 2024

Nour Nasir

tiktok update promotes safer content creation and sharing

As TikTok continues to grow in popularity, and with the company coming under scrutiny from the likes of the US government, the video platform has made another alteration to its community guidelines and added new features “to ensure that all communities benefit from a safer and more transparent environment”.

tiktok account status

Here’s everything you need to know about the changes:

Improved Clarity

Effective next month, TikTok will refine definitions and add more detail to its policies, including those concerning hate speech and health misinformation. Additionally, the platform will include more comprehensive guidelines on how Search, LIVE, and the For You feed are moderated.

Accounts that repeatedly violate For You feed standards may be temporarily ineligible for recommendation and, therefore, will be less discoverable in searches. Creators will receive notifications about restrictions placed on their content and have the option to appeal.

Warning Strikes

TikTok is also introducing a new warning strike system. Creators who accidentally violate Community Guidelines for the first time will not be penalized, but subsequent violations (other than in extreme cases, such as incitement to violence) will be added to a tally, eventually resulting in a ban.

Account Check Tool

TikTok has also announced an “Account Check” tool where creators can review their last 30 posts and overall account status. Account Checks are intended to help creators understand whether they are in good standing and inform them of any restrictions to their accounts.

Also Read: Top 10 Best Freelance Platforms In The Middle East

Creator Code Of Conduct

In addition to updated Community Guidelines, TikTok is also debuting a Creator Code of Conduct. The new standards “set expectations for creators involved in TikTok programs, features, events and campaigns to follow on and off-platform, in addition to the Community Guidelines and Terms of Service”.

In the wake of a potential US ban, TikTok’s updated Community Guidelines seem like an effort to appease US lawmakers. However, little seems to be able to stop the platform’s meteoric growth, with the app now boasting 1.92 billion users — a 16% increase in a single year.

News

Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.