This dispatch was published by ISD Global (July 14, 2025).

Drawing on ISD’s research into TikTok’s For You Page during Germany’s 2025 federal election campaign, this dispatch examines why researchers still cannot meaningfully assess political bias in recommender systems — and what structural changes are needed to make that possible.

ISD’s election research found that far-right AfD fan pages were disproportionately represented among the first political videos shown to test accounts, and that multiple studies point toward right-leaning content receiving greater algorithmic amplification even when users engage equally with diverse political content. Yet despite EU Digital Services Act requirements, the transparency measures TikTok has implemented remain insufficient for independent verification.

Four Barriers to Meaningful Research

Restricted Virtual Compute Environment (VCE) access. Civil society organizations cannot access TikTok’s VCE on equal terms with academic researchers, creating a two-tier system that limits independent oversight.

No ability to test algorithmic variables. Researchers cannot isolate or test individual factors that may drive recommendation patterns, making it impossible to determine why certain content gets amplified.

Opaque political content classification. TikTok’s internal criteria for what counts as political content are not disclosed, meaning researchers cannot assess whether labeling and classification are applied consistently or correctly.

Limited access to non-public platform data. Key data needed to evaluate recommender system behavior remains inaccessible to outside researchers.

Recommendations

The authors call on TikTok and EU regulators to grant civil society organizations research API access comparable to academic researchers, implement dynamic testing capabilities that allow algorithmic variables to be examined, and disclose internal content categorization systems so external researchers can conduct evidence-based assessments.

Full Report

The full dispatch is available at isdglobal.org.