There's a whole tiktok-only meta where people think that adding particular tags or censoring certain words will prevent automod from deleting their post
I'm not sure it even works that way, but it's very common
Then why would they still leave in all of that data collection software? The app copies your photos, contacts, and text history. I'm not saying you're a liar, but it seems pretty ballsy for an American based company to do.
They can still use and profit from your data, they just know that there's a different culture and demand for content in the west that they can push towards the consumer to hook them more