Dubawa probe prompts TikTok to remove accounts hosting erotic Yorùbá-language shows

TikTok’s moderation infrastructure has no documented capacity to detect explicit content in Yorùbá or any other African language.

TikTok has removed seven accounts hosting erotic storytelling shows in Yorùbá, three days after fact-checking organization Dubawa published an investigation exposing how creators evaded moderation by using the language.

Dubawa said it monitored 20 explicit livestreams between December 2025 and May 2026, which ran undisturbed for months because TikTok’s moderation systems lack documented capacity to detect explicit content in Yorùbá or other African languages, according to the report. TikTok had earlier told Dubawa the flagged sessions did not violate its community guidelines.

The report noted that one account, run by a creator with 20,000 followers, still has a backup account active, while screen-recorded versions of the sessions remain viral elsewhere online.

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