Censorship in the age of social media and algorithms: A linguistic study of TikTok algospeak in light of computer-mediated communication, x-phemisms, and taboos

This study focuses on the phenomenon of algospeak on TikTok. Algospeak is propelled by the proprietary and thus enigmatic character of the platform’s algorithm, leading to the emergence of algorithmic folk theories, including censorship. Through algospeak, TikTok users employ diverse linguistic strategies to outsmart the algorithm and to prevent their content from being down-ranked or removed. Our objective is to present the concept of algospeak as potentially x-phemistic creative expressions to address recognized taboo topics. Thus, we analyze how algospeak is created and whether the employed mechanisms are akin to those found in other forms of communication, particularly x-phemisms and other genres of computer-mediated communication. Our analysis is based on a qualitative examination of a corpus of 550 instances of algospeak. The primary objective was to categorize those examples, establishing the most prominent categories in terms of both formation mechanisms (morphological and semantic innovations) and taboo themes. This study sheds light on how users adapt their language to navigate TikTok and its algorithmic content curation, and contributes to a deeper comprehension of the evolving dynamics of online communication on algorithm-driven platforms.