TikTok Says ‘Moderator Error’ Kept Perez Hilton Livestream Up
The gossip blogger was on TikTok covered in what appeared to be blood and wielding a knifelike object before the platform cut his stream. He’s since been hospitalized.
On January 19th, TikTok's livestream featuring Perez Hilton continued for around 15 minutes, despite TikTok's automated moderation systems flagging it minutes after it began. After the stream concluded, Lavandeira was hospitalized due to self-harm, prompting the Miami-Dade County Sheriff's Office to dispatch a crisis response unit and mental health professionals to his home.
TikTok spokesperson Jamie Favazza explained that while the platform's systems flagged the stream minutes after it started, a "moderator error" caused a delay in its removal and the subsequent ban of his account. TikTok contacted law enforcement shortly after the livestream was flagged, but the platform did not disclose more details about the nature of this error.
In the past, the platform has been criticized for failing to remove content featuring suicide or self-harm in a timely manner, including in 2020 when a young Brazilian man livestreamed his own suicide on the platform. Perez Hilton's manager, Dante Rusciolelli, emphasized that the focus is on his well-being and respectfully requested privacy to be honored during this sensitive time.
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