algospeak

Many social media platforms rely on automated content moderation systems to enforce their guidelines, which are often not determined by users themselves. TikTok in particular uses artificial intelligence to proactively moderate content, in addition to responding to user reports and using human moderators. In colloquial usage, such AIs are called "algorithms" or "bots". TikTok has faced criticism for their unequal enforcement on topics such as LGBTQ people and obesity. This led to a perception that social media moderation is contradictory and inconsistent.

Between July and September 2024, TikTok reported removing 150 million videos, 120 million of which were flagged by automated systems.{{Cite web |date=December 18, 2024 |title=Community Guidelines Enforcement Report |url=https://www.tiktok.com/transparency/en-us/community-guidelines-enforcement-2024-3 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241218181459/https://www.tiktok.com/transparency/en-us/community-guidelines-enforcement-2024-3 |archive-date=2024-12-18 |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=www.tiktok.com |language=en}} In addition, AI may miss important context; for example, communities who aid people who struggle with self-harm, suicidal thoughts, or past sexual violence may inadvertently get caught in automated moderation.{{cite web |last=Kreuz |first=Roger J. |date=13 April 2023 |title=What is 'algospeak'? Inside the newest version of linguistic subterfuge |url=https://theconversation.com/what-is-algospeak-inside-the-newest-version-of-linguistic-subterfuge-203460 |access-date=2 January 2024 |website=The Conversation}}{{Cite journal |last1=Tillewein |first1=Heather |last2=Mohon-Doyle |first2=Keely |last3=Cox |first3=Destiny |date=November 2024 |title=A Critical Discourse Analysis of Sexual Violence Survivors and Censorship on the Social Media Platform TikTok |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10508-024-02987-2 |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |language=en |volume=53 |issue=10 |pages=3785–3794 |doi=10.1007/s10508-024-02987-2 |pmid=39317917 |issn=0004-0002|url-access=subscription }} TikTok users have used algospeak to discuss and provide support to those who self-harm.{{Cite journal |last=Vera |first=Valerie |date=October 2023 |title=Nonsuicidal Self-Injury and Content Moderation on TikTok |url=https://asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pra2.979 |journal=Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology |language=en |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=1164–1166 |doi=10.1002/pra2.979 |issn=2373-9231|url-access=subscription }} An interview with nineteen TikTok creators revealed that they felt TikTok's moderation lacked contextual understanding, appeared random, was often inaccurate, and exhibited bias against marginalized communities.

Algospeak is also used in communities promoting harmful behaviors. Anti-vaccination Facebook groups began renaming themselves to “dance party” or “dinner party” to avoid being flagged for misinformation. Likewise, communities that encourage the eating disorder anorexia nervosa have been employing algospeak.{{cite news |last=Lorenz |first=Taylor |date=8 April 2022 |title=Internet 'algospeak' is changing our language in real time, from 'nip nops' to 'le dollar bean' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/08/algospeak-tiktok-le-dollar-bean/ |access-date=2 January 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} Euphemisms like "cheese pizza" and "touch the ceiling" are used to promote child sexual abuse material (CSAM).{{Cite web |last=Levine |first=Alexandra S. |title=From Camping To Cheese Pizza, 'Algospeak' Is Taking Over Social Media |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandralevine/2022/09/16/algospeak-social-media-survey/ |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

On TikTok, moderation decisions can result in consequences such as account bans and deletion or delisting of videos from the main video discovery page, called the "For You" page. In response, a TikTok spokeswoman told The New York Times that the users' fears are misplaced, saying that many popular videos discuss sex-adjacent topics.{{Cite news |last=Delkic |first=Melina |date=2022-11-19 |title=Leg Booty? Panoramic? Seggs? How TikTok Is Changing Language |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/style/tiktok-avoid-moderators-words.html |access-date=2024-04-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Algospeak uses techniques akin to those used in Aesopian language to conceal the intended meaning from automated content filters, while being understandable to human readers. One such method draws from leetspeak, where letters are replaced with lookalike characters (e.g. $3X for sex). Other similar adoption of obfuscated speech include Cockney rhyming slang and Polari, which were formerly used by London gangs and British gay men respectively. However, unlike other forms of obfuscated speech, the global reach of social media has allowed the language to spread beyond local settings.

Another method is where certain words may be censored, or in the case of auditory media, cut off or bleeped,{{Efn|Bleep censor is commonly implemented in the editing process of TV production, mostly for censoring out obscene language, rather than by YouTube and TikTok video authors themselves.|group=lower-alpha}} e.g., s*icide instead of suicide. A third method involves "pseudo-substitution", where an item is censored in one form, while it is present in another form at the same time, as used in videos.{{Cite web |last=Willenberg |first=Merle |date=March 2024 |title=TW: su1(1d3 -Multimodal Self-Censorship on YouTube |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379119607 |access-date=January 28, 2025 |website=ResearchGate}} Some methods involve intersemiotic translation, where non-linguistic signs are interpreted linguistically, in addition to further obfuscation. For example, the emoji "🌽" signifies pornography by means of 🌽 → corn → porn.

In an interview study, most creators that were interviewed suspected TikTok's automated moderation was scanning the audio as well, leading them to also use algospeak terms in speech. Some also label sensitive images with innocuous captions using algospeak, such as captioning a scantily-dressed body as "fake body". The use of gestures and emojis are common in algospeak, showing that it is not limited to written communication.{{cite book |last1=Klug |first1=Daniel |title=Companion Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2022 |last2=Steen |first2=Ella |last3=Yurechko |first3=Kathryn |date=2022 |isbn=9781450394192 |pages=234–237 |chapter=How Algorithm Awareness Impacts Algospeak Use on TikTok |doi=10.1145/3543873.3587355 |access-date=2 January 2024 |chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3543873.3587355 |s2cid=258377709}}

A 2022 poll showed that nearly a third of American social media users reported using "emojis or alternative phrases" to subvert content moderation.

Algospeak can lead to misunderstandings. A high-profile incident occurred when Italian actress Julia Fox made a seemingly unsympathetic comment on a TikTok post mentioning "mascara", not knowing its obfuscated meaning of sexual assault. Fox later apologized for her comment.{{Cite web |last=Noyce |first=Eleanor |date=2023-02-02 |title=The 'mascara' trend is empowering people to discuss sexual assault on TikTok – but are code-words enough? |url=https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/mascara-trend-tiktok-sexual-assault |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=Glamour UK |language=en-GB}} In an interview study, creators shared that the evolving nature of content moderation pressures them to constantly innovate their use of algospeak, which makes them feel less authentic.

A 2024 study showed that GPT-4, a large language model, can often identify and decipher algospeak, especially with example sentences.{{Cite journal |last1=Fillies |first1=Jan |last2=Paschke |first2=Adrian |date=2024 |title=Simple LLM based Approach to Counter Algospeak |url=https://aclanthology.org/2024.woah-1.10/ |journal=Proceedings of the 8th Workshop on Online Abuse and Harms (WOAH 2024) |language=en |publisher=Association for Computational Linguistics |pages=136–145 |doi=10.18653/v1/2024.woah-1.10|url-access=subscription }} Another study shows that sentiment analysis models often rate negative comments incorporating simple letter–number substitution and extraneous hyphenation more positively.{{Cite book |last1=Leal-Arenas |first1=Sebastian |last2=Corizzo |first2=Roberto |chapter=Assessing the Impact of Algospeak on Sentiment Analysis Models |date=2024-10-14 |title=2024 IEEE Digital Platforms and Societal Harms (DPSH) |chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10775228 |publisher=IEEE |pages=1–7 |doi=10.1109/DPSH60098.2024.10775228 |isbn=979-8-3503-5130-9}}

According to New York Times:

• le dollar bean – lesbian, as derived from the written form Le$bian
• panini, panoramic – a pandemic, especially the COVID-19 pandemic{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Evan Nicole |date=2021-03-19 |title=How Nicknames for the Pandemic Became a Popular Online Trend |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/style/pandemic-nicknames.html |access-date=2024-10-03 |work=The New York Times}}
• accountant – sex worker
• (to) unalive, unalived – to kill; killed, dead
• cornucopia – homophobia
• leg booty – the LGBTQ+ community
• nip nops – nipples
• seggs – sex

Other examples:{{cite web |last=Tellez |first=Anthony |title='Mascara,' 'Unalive,' 'Corn': What Common Social Media Algospeak Words Actually Mean |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonytellez/2023/01/31/mascara-unalive-corn-what-common-social-media-algospeak-words-actually-mean/?sh=634d52092a08 |access-date=2 January 2024 |website=Forbes}}

• tism – autism spectrum conditions
• fork – fuck (verb)
• grape – rape
• Panda Express – pandemic
• yt – White/Caucasian people
• clock app – TikTok
• blink in lio – link in bio
• shmex – sex
• opposite of love – hatred
• camping – abortion
• sewer slide – suicide
• pew pew – firearm
• mascara – someone's romantic partner
• SA or S.A. – sexual assault
• cheese pizza – child pornography
• ouid – weed

• {{annotated link|Chilling effect}}
• {{annotated link|Cant (language)}}
• {{annotated link|Enshittification}}
• {{annotated link|Koalang}}
• {{annotated link|Newspeak}}
• {{annotated link|Un-word of the year}}
• Internet censorship

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• [https://open.spotify.com/episode/67gUlcIdLrpSYj8uICV62U?go=1&sp_cid=6a617472a387d078d1676dd1c88c20e0&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop Fast Company podcast] on Spotify.

{{Internet slang}}{{Internet slang variants}}

Category:Internet culture

Category:2020s slang

Category:Obfuscation

Category:Cant languages

Category:Internet censorship