TikTok has admitted censoring posts by users it identified as disabled, fat or LGBTQ+ as part of a misguided effort to cut down on bullying on the platform. According to a report from the German site NetzPolitik.org, the video-sharing site artificially limited the reach of users who it thought would be vulnerable to bullying if their videos reached a wide audience.

TikTok confirmed the substance of the reporting, telling the publication that the rules were a stopgap solution to bullying on the platform, and were “never intended to be a long-term solution”.

In a follow-up statement, TikTok said: “Early on, in response to an increase in bullying on the app, we implemented a blunt and temporary policy. While the intention was good, the approach was wrong and we have long since changed the earlier policy in favour of more nuanced anti-bullying policies and in-app protections.” According to Netzpolitik.org, the rules were in place as recently as September.

The leaks are the latest to demonstrate how TikTok takes a much firmer hand with content moderation on its site than its Silicon Valley-native competitors.