![]() ![]() Dissatisfied users grumble about how they would delete it if they could, and it seems the ongoing privacy catastrophes do little to damage the company. TikTok time machineĪ thought exercise: If you could go back in time and stop yourself and everyone around you from downloading Facebook, would you? But when you stack that up against accusations of harvesting user data, censoring what the Chinese Communist Party doesn't like and its parent company's alleged active assistance in human rights violations, it almost seems like it's not worth it. TikTok is a platform filled with much-needed mindless mirth, and was the springboard for noted banger Ol' Town Road. "We have never been asked by the Chinese government to remove any content and we would not do so if asked. "TikTok does not remove content based on sensitivities related to China," a spokesperson said. ![]() A think tank backed by Australia's Department of Defense called ByteDance a "vector for censorship and surveillance," adding that it "collaborates with public security bureaus across China."įor its part, TikTok says it doesn't operate in China - the country has an app called Douyin which is essentially TikTok with a different name and stricter, China-specific content guidelines - and that it has no data centers in the country. A report out of Germany found TikTok had been hiding videos posted by LGBTQ and disabled users from people's feeds, which TikTok said was a temporary anti-bullying measure. Unfortunately for TikTok, and people like me who just want to love TikTok, the app has had a spectacular run of bad news since.Ī proposed class-action lawsuit filed in California claims the app has been illegally and secretly harvesting personally identifiable user data and sending it to China. It's an eyebrow raiser for sure, but plausible. TikTok says the 17-year-old's account was disabled not because of that video, but in relation to a TikTok featuring imagery of Osama Bin Laden. So it was a little suspicious when news broke that TikTok had taken down the profile of an American teenager promoting awareness about China's disastrous human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims. The New York Times in November asked TikTok boss Alex Zhu what he would do if President Xi Jinping personally requested that he take down a video or share user data. "Firms such as Huawei, Tencent, ZTE, Alibaba, and Baidu have no meaningful ability to tell the Chinese Communist Party 'no' if officials decide to ask for their assistance," said US International Security bureaucrat Christopher Ashley Ford at a conference in September. Tech platforms in the past have not only had to purge any mention of Tiananmen Square Massacre or Tibetan independence, but also remove "subversive" imagery like Winnie the Pooh and Peppa Pig. Being a company of any importance in China means working with the ruling Communist Party in some capacity. The app is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, currently the most valuable startup in the world. Paying attention to TikTok the app has made it necessary to pay attention to TikTok the company. Though TikTok distinguishes itself by being fun to use, its parent company is like many Silicon Valley giants in one key way: It can't be trusted. My problem with the app isn't its guarantee to waste too much of my time. Not only do I remember the last time I felt satisfied post-TikTok (yesterday), TikTok has brought me closer to friends and colleagues. Twitter is designed to be a platform for open conversation, but reduces people, arguments and ideas into 280-character caricatures.ĭo you remember the last time you felt satisfied after using any of these apps? I don't. ![]() ![]() Studies show Instagram, acting as a highlight reel of other people's artificial lives, is harmful to self-esteem. Expanding Facebook friend counts lead to people sharing less, making the platform feel sterile. TikTok stands out from other social media in one key way: You actually feel good after using it. Recent favorites include a dog getting its nails clipped, a teen runner belly flopping into a pool of mud mid-race, and a stoner interrupting a college lecture to heat up popcorn with a microwave he brought from home. A feed comprised of millions of silly videos from people around the world, curated to my taste by artificial intelligence. It was a little like The Hangover, but subtract drugs, strippers and Mike Tyson's tiger and replace it with a trendy Chinese video app aimed at 16-year-olds.Īnd now I'm addicted. After dismissing it for over a year, TikTok was thrust upon me last month at, of all things, a bachelor party in Hong Kong. Hi, my name is Daniel and I have a problem. ![]()
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