Table of Contents
TikTok, known in China as Douyin ( chinese : 抖音 ; pinyin : Dǒuyīn ), is a video-focused sociable network service owned by chinese company ByteDance Ltd. [ 4 ] It hosts a diverseness of short-form user videos, from genres like pranks, stunts, tricks, jokes, dance, and entertainment [ 5 ] [ 6 ] with durations from 15 seconds to ten minutes. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ] TikTok is an external version of Douyin, which was in the first place released in the chinese market in September 2016. [ 11 ] TikTok was launched in 2017 for io and Android in most markets outside of mainland China ; however, it became available worldwide lone after merging with another chinese social media service, Musical.ly, on 2 August 2018. TikTok and Douyin have about the lapp drug user interface but no access to each other ‘s content. Their servers are each based in the market where the respective app is available. [ 12 ] The two products are similar, but features are not identical. Douyin includes an in-video search feature that can search by people ‘s faces for more videos of them and other features such as buy, booking hotels and making geo-tagged reviews. [ 13 ] Since its launch in 2016, TikTok and Douyin quickly gained popularity in about all parts of the global. [ 14 ] [ 15 ] TikTok surpassed 2 billion fluid downloads worldwide in October 2020. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ]
Reading: TikTok – Wikipedia
Morning Consult ranked TikTok as the third gear fastest growing brand of 2020, after merely Zoom and Peacock. [ 19 ] Cloudflare ranked TikTok as the most popular web site of 2021, surpassing Google. [ 20 ]
history
development
Douyin was launched by ByteDance in Beijing, China in September 2016, in the first place under the mention A.me, before rebranding to Douyin ( 抖音 ) in December 2016. [ 21 ] [ 22 ] ByteDance planned on Douyin expanding oversea. The founder of ByteDance, Zhang Yiming, stated that “ China is base to only one-fifth of Internet users globally. If we don ’ t expand on a ball-shaped scale, we are bound to lose to peers eyeing the four-fifths. so, going ball-shaped is a must. ” [ 23 ] Douyin was developed in 200 days and within a year had 100 million users, with more than one billion videos viewed every day. [ 24 ] [ 25 ] The app was launched as TikTok in the external grocery store in September 2017. [ 26 ] On 23 January 2018, the TikTok app ranked first among dislodge application downloads on app stores in Thailand and other countries. [ 27 ] TikTok has been downloaded more than 130 million times in the United States, and has reached 2 billion downloads cosmopolitan, [ 28 ] [ 29 ] according to data from mobile research firm Sensor Tower ( those numbers exclude Android users in China ). [ 30 ] In the United States, celebrities, including Jimmy Fallon and Tony Hawk, began using the app in 2018. [ 31 ] [ 32 ] other celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Alba, Will Smith, and Justin Bieber joined TikTok as well and many other celebrities have followed. [ 33 ] On 3 September 2019, TikTok and the U.S. National Football League ( NFL ) announced a multi-year partnership. [ 34 ] The agreement occurred just two days before the NFL ‘s 100th season kick-off at Soldier Field, where TikTok hosted activities for fans in respect of the deal. The partnership entails the launch of an official NFL TikTok account, which is to bring about new marketing opportunities such as sponsor videos and hashtag challenges. In July 2020, TikTok, excluding Douyin, reported near to 800 million monthly active users worldwide after less than four years of being. [ 35 ] In May 2021, TikTok appointed Shou Zi Chew as their new CEO [ 36 ] who assumed the situation from interim CEO Vanessa Pappas, following the resignation of Kevin A. Mayer on 27 August 2020. [ 37 ] [ 38 ] [ 39 ] On 3 August 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to ban TikTok in the United States on 15 September if negotiations for the company to be bought by Microsoft or a different “ very american ” company failed. [ 40 ] On 6 August, Trump signed two executive orders banning U.S. “ transactions ” with TikTok and WeChat to its respective rear companies ByteDance and Tencent, set to take effect 45 days after the bless. [ 41 ] A planned ban of the app on 20 September 2020 [ 42 ] [ 43 ] was postponed by a workweek and then blocked by a federal evaluate. [ 44 ] [ 45 ] [ 46 ] [ 47 ] President Biden revoked the ban in a new executive order in June 2021. [ 48 ] The app has been banned by the government of India since June 2020 along with 223 other chinese apps in view of privacy concerns. [ 49 ] Pakistan banned TikTok citing “ immoral ” and “ indecent ” videos on 9 October 2020 but reversed its ban ten days subsequently. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] [ 52 ] In March 2021, a Pakistani court ordered a new TikTok ban due to complaints over “ indecent ” content. In September 2021, TikTok reported that it had reached 1 billion users. [ 53 ]
Musical.ly amalgamation
On 9 November 2017, TikTok ‘s parent caller, ByteDance, spent up to U.S. $ 1 billion to purchase musical.ly, a inauguration headquartered in Shanghai with an abroad agency in Santa Monica, California, U.S. [ 54 ] [ 55 ] Musical.ly was a social media television platform that allowed users to create shortstop lip-synch and comedy videos, initially released in August 2014. It was well known, particularly to the younger consultation. Looking forward to leveraging the U.S. digital chopine ‘s young drug user base, TikTok merged with musical.ly on 2 August 2018 to create a larger television community, with existing accounts and data consolidated into one app, keeping the championship TikTok. [ 56 ] This ended musical.ly and made TikTok a global app, excluding China, since China already has Douyin. [ 55 ] [ 57 ] [ 58 ]
expansion in other markets
As of 2018, TikTok was available in more than 150 markets, and in 75 languages. [ 59 ] [ 60 ] TikTok was downloaded more than 104 million times on Apple ‘s App store during the fully foremost half of 2018, according to data provided to CNBC by Sensor Tower. [ 61 ] After merging with musical.ly in August, downloads increased and TikTok became the most download app in the U.S. in October 2018, which musical.ly had done once earlier. [ 62 ] [ 63 ] In February 2019, TikTok, together with Douyin, hit one billion downloads globally, excluding Android installs in China. [ 64 ] In 2019, media outlets cited TikTok as the 7th-most-downloaded mobile app of the decade, from 2010 to 2019. [ 65 ] It was besides the most-downloaded app on Apple ‘s App Store in 2018 and 2019, surpassing Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. [ 66 ] [ 67 ] In September 2020, a hand was confirmed between ByteDance and Oracle in which the latter will serve as a spouse to provide cloud host. [ 68 ] [ 69 ] Walmart intends to invest in TikTok. [ 70 ] This distribute would stall in 2021 as newly elected President Biden ‘s Justice Department put a restrain on the previous U.S. ban under President Trump. [ 71 ] [ 72 ] [ 73 ] In November 2020, TikTok signed a license softwood with Sony Music. [ 74 ] In December 2020, Warner Music Group signed a license deal with TikTok. [ 75 ] [ 76 ] [ 77 ] In April 2021, Abu Dhabi ‘s department of Culture and Tourism partnered with TikTok to promote tourism. [ 78 ] It came following the January 2021 winter campaign, initiated through a partnership between the UAE Government Media Office partnered and TikTok to promote the country ‘s tourism. [ 79 ] Since 2014, the only apps with more than 3 billion downloads are WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger, and all of these apps belong to Facebook. TikTok is besides the first non-Facebook app to be downloaded more than 3 billion times. App commercialize research firm Sensor Tower pointed out in July that although TikTok has been banned in India, its largest market, since June, downloads in the rest of the world continue to increase, reaching 3 billion downloads in 2020. [ 80 ]
Features
The TikTok mobile app allows users to create short-circuit videos, which often feature music in the background and can be sped up, slowed down, or edited with a trickle. [ 81 ] They can besides add their own sound on top of the background music. To create a music video with the app, users can choose background music from a across-the-board variety show of music genres, edit with a trickle and record a 15-second video with accelerate adjustments before uploading it to share with others on TikTok or other social platforms. [ 82 ] They can besides movie light lip-synch videos to popular songs. The “ For You ” foliate on TikTok is a tip of videos that are recommended to users based on their activity on the app. Content is generated by TikTok ‘s artificial intelligence ( AI ) depending on the content a user liked, interacted with, or searched. This is in contrast to other social networks ‘ algorithms basing such content off of the user ‘s relationships with other users and what they liked or interacted with. [ 83 ] Users can besides choose to add to favorites or select “ not concerned ” on videos for their page. TikTok combines the drug user ‘s enjoyed message to provide videos that they would besides enjoy. Users and their content can only be featured on the “ for you ” page if they are 16 or over as per TikTok policy. Users under 16 will not show up under the “ for you ” page, the sounds page, or under any hashtags. [ 84 ] The app ‘s “ react ” feature of speech allows users to film their reaction to a specific video, over which it is placed in a modest window that is movable around the screen. [ 85 ] Its “ couple ” sport allows users to film a television aside another video. [ 86 ] The “ couple ” feature of speech was another trademark of musical.ly. The duet feature is besides only able to be used if both parties adjust the privacy settings. [ 87 ] Videos that users do not want to post yet can be stored in their “ drafts. ” The user is allowed to see their “ drafts ” and post when they find it fitting. [ 88 ] The app allows users to set their accounts as “ secret. ” When first downloading the app, the drug user ‘s score is public by nonpayment. The user can change to individual in their settings. Private contented remains visible to TikTok, but is blocked from TikTok users who the account holder has not authorized to view their capacity. [ 89 ] Users can choose whether any other exploiter, or only their “ friends, ” may interact with them through the app via comments, messages, or “ react ” or “ pas de deux ” television. [ 85 ] Users besides can set specific videos to either “ public, ” “ friends merely, ” or “ secret ” careless if the account is private or not. [ 89 ] Users are besides allowed to report accounts depending on the account ‘s contentedness, either being spam or inappropriate. In TikTok ‘s patronize focus on under “ For Parents, ” they reassure the parents that inappropriate content for their children can be blocked and reported. [ 90 ] When users follow other users, a “ following ” foliate is located on the left of the “ for you ” page. This is a page only to see the video from the accounts a user follows. Users can besides add videos, hashtags, filters, and sounds to their “ saved ” section. When creating a video, they can refer to their protected section, or create a video uncoiled from it. This section is visible merely to the drug user on their profile allowing them to refer to any television, hashtag, percolate, or legal they ‘ve previously saved. Users can besides send their friends videos, emojis, and messages with direct message. TikTok has besides included a feature to create a video based on the exploiter ‘s comments. Influencers frequently use the “ live ” feature. This have is alone available for those who have at least 1,000 followers and are over 16 years honest-to-god. If over 18, the drug user ‘s followers can send virtual “ gifts ” that can be belated exchanged for money. [ 91 ] [ 92 ] One of the newest features as of 2020 is the “ virtual Items ” of “ little Gestures ” sport. This is based on China ‘s boastfully drill of social endow. Since this feature of speech was added, many beauty companies and brands created a TikTok account to participate and advertise this feature. With COVID-19 lockdown in the United States, sociable endow has grown in popularity. According to a TikTok congressman, the campaign was launched as a solution of the lockdown, “ to build a smell of back and encouragement with the TikTok community during these rugged times. ” [ 93 ] TikTok announced a “ syndicate safety modality ” in February 2020 for parents to be able to control their children ‘s digital wellbeing. There is a screen time management option, restricted mode, and can put a specify on conduct messages. [ 94 ] [ 95 ] The app expanded its parental controls feature called “ kin Pairing ” in September 2020 to provide parents and guardians with educational resources to understand what children on TikTok are exposed to. Content for the sport was created in partnership with on-line guard nonprofit, Internet Matters. [ 96 ] In October 2021, TikTok launched a trial feature that allows users to immediately tip certain creators. Accounts of users that are of age, have at least 100,000 followers and agree to the terms can activate a “ Tip ” clitoris on their profile, which allows followers to tip any measure, starting from $ 1. [ 97 ] In December 2021, TikTok started beta-testing Live Studio, a stream software that would let users broadcast applications open on their computers, including games. The software besides launched with back for mobile and personal computer pour. [ 98 ] however, a few days late, users on Twitter discovered that the software allegedly uses code from the open-source OBS Studio. OBS made a statement saying that, under the GNU GPL version 2, TikTok has to make the code of know Studio publicly available if it wants to use any code from OBS. [ 99 ] In May 2022, TikTok announced TikTok Pulse, an ad gross sharing course of study. It covers the “ top 4 % of all videos on TikTok ” and is alone available to creators with more than 100,000 followers. If an eligible creator ‘s video recording reaches the top 4 %, they will receive a 50 % share of the gross from ads displayed with the video. [ 100 ]
content and use
Demographics
TikTok tends to appeal to younger users, as 41 % of its users are between the ages of 16 and 24. Among these TikTok users, 90 % say they use the app daily. [ 101 ] TikTok ‘s geographic use has shown that 43 % of newfangled users are from India. [ 102 ] As of the first quarter of 2022, there were over 100 million monthly active users in the United States and 23 million in the UK. The modal user, daily, was spending 1 hour and 25 minutes on the app and opening TikTok 17 times. [ 103 ]
Viral trends
A variety of trends have risen within TikTok, including memes, lip-synch songs, and comedy videos. Duets, a feature of speech that allows users to add their own video to an existing television with the original content ‘s audio, have sparked many of these trends. Trends are shown on TikTok ‘s explore page or the page with the search logo. The page enlists the swerve hashtags and challenges among the app. Some include # posechallenge, # filterswitch, # dontjudgemechallenge, # homedecor, # hitormiss, # bottlecapchallenge and more. In June 2019, the company introduced the hashtag # EduTok which received 37 billion views. Following this development, the company initiated partnerships with edtech startups to create educational content on the platform. [ 104 ] The app has spawned numerous viral trends, Internet celebrities, and music trends around the world. [ 105 ] many stars got their begin on musical.ly, which merged with TikTok on 2 August 2018. These users include Loren Gray, Baby Ariel, Kristen Hancher, Zach King, Lisa and Lena, Jacob Sartorius, and many others. Loren Gray remained the most-followed individual on TikTok until Charli D ’ Amelio surpassed her on 25 March 2020. Gray ‘s was the first TikTok score to reach 40 million followers on the platform. She was surpassed with 41.3 million followers. D’Amelio was the first to always reach 50, 60, and 70 million followers. Until nowadays Charli D ’ Amelio remains the most-followed individual on the platform. early creators rose to fame after the chopine merged with musical.ly on 2 August 2018. [ 106 ] One celebrated TikTok tendency is the “ strike or miss ” meme, which began from a snip of iLOVEFRiDAY ‘s song “ Mia Khalifa. ” The song has been used in over four million TikTok videos and helped introduce the app to a larger western hearing. [ 107 ] [ 108 ] TikTok besides played a major region in making “ Old Town Road “ by Lil Nas X one of the biggest songs of 2019 and the longest running number-one song in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. [ 109 ] [ 110 ] [ 111 ] TikTok has allowed many other bands to gain a wide hearing, often including extraneous fans. For case, despite never having toured in Asia, the band Fitz and the Tantrums developed a big follow in South Korea following the far-flung popularity of their song “ HandClap “ on the platform. [ 112 ] “ Any Song ” by R & B and rap artist Zico became number one on the korean music charts due to the popularity of the # anysongchallenge, where users dance the choreography of “ Any Song. ” [ 113 ] The chopine has received some criticism for not paying royalties to artists whose music is used on their platform. [ 108 ] In 2020, more than 176 different songs surpassed 1 billion video recording views on TikTok. [ 114 ] In June 2020, TikTok users and K-pop fans “ claimed to have registered potentially hundreds of thousands of tickets ” for President Trump ‘s campaign call up in Tulsa through communication on TikTok, [ 115 ] lend to “ rows of evacuate seats ” [ 116 ] at the consequence. TikTok has banned Holocaust denial, but other conspiracy theories have become popular on the platform, such as Pizzagate and QAnon ( two conspiracy theories popular among the U.S. alt-right ) whose hashtags reached about 80 million views and 50 million views respectively by June 2020. [ 117 ] The platform has besides been used to spread misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, such as clips from Plandemic. [ 117 ] TikTok removed some of these videos, and has broadly added links to accurate COVID-19 information on video with tags related to the pandemic. [ 118 ] On 10 August 2020, Emily Jacobssen wrote and sang “ Ode To Remy, ” a song praising the protagonist from Pixar ‘s 2007 computer-animated film named Ratatouille. The song rose to popularity when musician Daniel Mertzlufft composed a back track to the sung. In reception, began creating a “ crowdsourced ” project called Ratatouille The Musical. Since Mertzlufft ‘s video, many new elements including costume purpose, extra songs, and a playbill have been created. [ 119 ] On 1 January 2021, a wide one-hour virtual presentation of Ratatouille the Musical premiered on the TodayTix. It starred Titus Burgess as Remy, Wayne Brady as Django, Adam Lambert as Emile, Chamberlin as Gusteau, Andrew Barth Feldman as Linguini, Ashley Park as Colette, Priscilla Lopez as Mabel, Mary Testa as Skinner, and André De Shields as Ego. several food trends have emerged on the platform, such as Dalgona coffee. Another TikTok usage that corresponds with engagement and bonds people in club is the use of “ challenges. ” These could be on any related topic such as dances or cooking certain meals. People see early people doing something that is trending and then it continues to spread until it is a viral swerve which connects people from all over. [ 120 ] While TikTok has chiefly been used for entertainment purposes, TikTok may soon have another use, that of a speculate resource with the theme that prospective employment seekers would send in video preferably than traditional resumes. The class would most probably be a problem search accessory. TikTok has had golden results in the past with people using the locate to find jobs and may be expanding that need specially in the new generations. [ 121 ]
Alt TikTok
Around mid-2020, some of the users on the chopine started to differentiate between the “ elevation ”, “ elect ”, or “ deep ” side of TikTok, seen as having more option and queer users, and the “ square ” side of TikTok, seen as the mainstream. [ 122 ] Hyperpop music, including artists like 100 Gecs, became widely used on Alt TikTok, complimenting the bright and colorful “ Indie Kid ” aesthetic. [ 123 ] Alt TikTok was besides accompanied by memes with surrealist or supernatural themes ( sometimes being described as cursed ), such as videos with heavy impregnation and android animals. [ 124 ] One of the democratic video from Alt TikTok, gaining 18 million likes, shows a llama dancing to a report of a song from a russian commercial by the cereal sword Miel Pops, subsequently becoming a viral sound recording. [ 125 ] [ 126 ] Some Alt TikTok users personified brands and products in what some referred to as Retail TikTok. [ 124 ]
profile picture cults
Another popular swerve on TikTok is bombastic sum of users putting the lapp prototype as their profile picture, known as a profile picture cult or a TikTok cult. popular examples include “ The step Chickens ” ( started by the drug user @ chunkysdead ), [ 127 ] “ The Hamster Cult ” and the “ Lana Del Rey Cult “. [ 128 ]
Influencer selling
TikTok has provided a chopine for users to create contentedness not lone for playfulness, but besides for money. As the platform has grown significantly over the past few years, it has allowed companies to advertise and quickly reach their mean demographic through influencer selling. [ 129 ] The platform ‘s AI algorithm besides contributes to the influencer commercialize potential, as it picks out capacity according to the user ‘s predilection. [ 130 ] Sponsored contented is not as prevailing on the platform as it is on other sociable media apps, but brands and influencers still can make ampere much as they would if not more in comparison to other platforms. [ 130 ] Influencers on the platform who earn money through engagement, such as likes and comments, are referred to as “ meme machines. ” [ 129 ] In 2021, The New York Times reported that viral TikTok video recording by young people relating the emotional impact of books on them, tagged with the label “ BookTok, ” significantly drove sales of literature. Publishers were increasingly using the platform as a venue for influencer market. [ 131 ]
Use by businesses
In October 2020, the ecommerce chopine Shopify added TikTok to its portfolio of social media platforms, allowing on-line merchants to sell their products directly to consumers on TikTok. [ 132 ] Some small businesses have used TikTok to advertise and to reach an audience across-the-board than the geographic area they would normally serve. The viral answer to many little business TikTok video has been attributed to TikTok ‘s algorithm, which shows content that viewers at bombastic are drawn to, but which they are improbable to actively search for ( such as videos on unconventional types of businesses, like beekeeping and log ). [ 133 ] In 2020, digital media companies such as Group Nine Media and Global used TikTok increasingly, focusing on tactics such as brokering partnerships with TikTok influencers and developing branded content campaigns. [ 134 ] celebrated collaborations between larger brands and exceed TikTok influencers have included Chipotle ‘s partnership with David Dobrik in May 2019 [ 135 ] and Dunkin ‘ Donuts ‘ partnership with Charli D’Amelio in September 2020. [ 136 ]
Collab houses
popular TikTok users have lived jointly in collab houses, predominately in the Los Angeles sphere. [ 137 ]
state bans and attempted bans
China
In April 2020, TikTok formally cooperated with mainland China ‘s Internet censoring mechanism and began to prohibit the use of oversea versions of Douyin in mainland China. different from general obstruct, TikTok adopted an IP lock zone, chiefly for mainland China ; Hong Kong and Macau were not affected. The aim consequence of the lock zone is that chinese users can not log in to TikTok using a VPN. Officials have besides restricted the numbers of China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom. The call numbers of the above three can not log in to TikTok. tied then, there are a large number of crack versions of TikTok on the chinese Internet. The alligatored version of TikTok can watch videos normally, but the earphone number restriction has not been cracked and users can not log in. In January 2021, the Great Firewall of China ‘s blocking measures on TikTok were further upgrade, and the monitor of the chapped version of TikTok was increased, and measures such as lymph node obstruct and IP blocking were adopted to interfere with the normal watch of video by mainland users : that is, users watch normally, but after a few video, the video can not be refreshed, and you need to re-enter the software before you can continue watching. The official web site www.tiktok.com of the overseas version of TikTok is presently blocked by the Great Firewall, and the chinese lyric of the official web site of the abroad translation only provides traditional Chinese, as officially used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, rather of Simplified Chinese .
iran
Iranians can not access TikTok because of both TikTok rules and irani censoring. [ 138 ]
India
The indian Government banned TikTok along with 58 other mobile apps with chinese developers or investors, including WeChat, UC Browser and PUBG on 29 June 2020. [ 139 ] [ 140 ] The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released a argument saying the apps were “ prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order. ” [ 141 ] [ 140 ] It was extended to 47 other apps which the ministry claimed were clones or variants of the banned apps. [ 140 ] The ban on TikTok and the 58 other apps was made permanent wave in January 2021. [ 142 ] In February 2021, TikTok announced that due to the bachelor of arts in nursing it will be forced to lay off over 2,000 employees in India. [ 143 ]
United States
On 6 August 2020, then U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order [ 144 ] [ 145 ] which would ban TikTok transactions in 45 days if it was not sold by ByteDance. Trump besides signed a similar ordering against the WeChat application owned by the chinese multinational company Tencent. [ 146 ] [ 43 ]
On 14 August 2020, Trump issued another arrange [ 147 ] [ 148 ] giving ByteDance 90 days to sell or spin off its U.S. TikTok business. [ 149 ] In the club, Trump said that there is “ credible attest ” that leads him to believe that ByteDance “ might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States. ” [ 150 ] Donald Trump was concerned about TikTok being a threat because TikTok ‘s parent company was rumored to be taking United States user data and reporting it bet on to taiwanese operations through the company ByteDance. [ 151 ] As of 2021, there is inactive the fear that TikTok is not protecting the privacy of its users and may be giving their data away. [ 152 ] TikTok considered selling the american share of its business, and held talks with companies including Microsoft, Walmart, and Oracle. [ 153 ] On 18 September, TikTok filed a lawsuit, TikTok v. Trump. On 23 September 2020, TikTok filed a request for a preliminary injunction to prevent the app from being banned by the Trump administration. [ 154 ] U.S. evaluate Carl J. Nichols temporarily blocked the Trump administration order that would efficaciously ban TikTok from being downloaded in U.S. app stores starting midnight on 27 September 2020. Nichols allowed the app to remain available in the U.S. app stores, but declined to block the extra Commerce Department restrictions that could have a larger impingement on TikTok ‘s operations in the U.S. These restrictions were set to take stead 12 November 2020. [ 155 ] Three TikTok influencers filed a lawsuit, Marland v. Trump. [ 156 ] On 30 October, Pennsylvania judge Wendy Beetlestone ruled against the Commerce Department, blocking them from restricting TikTok. [ 156 ] On 12 November, the Commerce Department stated that it would obey the Pennsylvania predominate and that it would not try to enforce the restrictions against TikTok that had been scheduled for 12 November. [ 156 ] The Commerce Department appealed the original opinion in TikTok v. Trump. On 7 December, Washington D.C. zone court judge Carl J. Nichols issued a preliminary injunction against the Commerce Department, preventing them from imposing restrictions on TikTok. [ 157 ] [ 158 ] [ 159 ] In June 2021, new president Joe Biden signed an executive club revoking the Trump administration prohibition on TikTok, and rather ordered the Secretary of Commerce to investigate the app to determine if it poses a threat to U.S. national security. [ 160 ]
Indonesia and Bangladesh
TikTok has been intermittently blocked in Indonesia and Bangladesh on different bases. [ 161 ] [ 162 ]
pakistan
On 11 October 2020, Pakistan became the future area to ban the social media platform after not complying with issues regarding the contented on the platform brought up by their government. [ 163 ] TikTok representatives have spoken with Pakistani officials in hopes of building better relations and allowing the people of Pakistan to create on the platform. [ 163 ]
Afghanistan
In April 2022, a spokesman for the Taliban politics stated that the app will be banned for ‘misleading the younger generation ‘ and that TikTok ‘s contentedness was ‘not reproducible with Islamic laws ‘. [ 164 ]
Controversies
addiction concerns
Some users may find it heavily to stop using TikTok. [ 165 ] In April 2018, an addiction-reduction sport was added to Douyin. [ 165 ] This encouraged users to take a fracture every 90 minutes. [ 165 ] late in 2018, the feature was rolled out to the TikTok app. TikTok uses some top influencers such as Gabe Erwin, Alan Chikin Chow, James Henry, and Cosette Rinab to encourage viewers to stop using the app and take a break. [ 166 ] many were besides concerned with users ‘ attention spans with these videos. Users watch short 15-second clips repeatedly and studies say that this could result in a decrease attention bridge. This is a refer as many of TikTok ‘s audience are younger children, whose brains are still developing. [ 167 ] TikTok executives & representatives have noted and made mindful to advertisers on the chopine that users have poor attention spans. With the large amount of video content, closely 50 % of users find it nerve-racking to watch a video longer than a moment and a third of users watch videos at double accelerate. [ 103 ]
content concerns
Some countries have shown concerns regarding the contentedness on TikTok, as their cultures view it as lewd, immoral, common, and encouraging pornography. There have been impermanent blocks and warnings issued by countries including Indonesia, [ 161 ] Bangladesh, [ 162 ] India, [ 168 ] and Pakistan [ 169 ] [ 170 ] over the content concerns. In 2018, Douyin was reprimanded by chinese media watchdogs for showing “ unacceptable ” contented. [ 171 ] On 27 July 2020, Egypt sentenced five women to two years in prison over TikTok videos. One of the women had encouraged other women to try and earn money on the platform, another woman was sent to prison for dancing. The court besides imposed a fine of 300,000 egyptian pounds ( UK£14,600 ) on each defendant. [ 172 ] Concerns have been voiced regarding content relating to, and the promotion and spread of, hateful words and reactionary extremism, such as anti-semitism, racism, and xenophobia. Some videos were shown to expressly deny the universe of the Holocaust and told viewers to take up arms and competitiveness in the mention of white domination and the swastika. [ 173 ] As TikTok has gained popularity among young children, [ 174 ] and the popularity of extremist and hateful capacity is growing, calls for tighter restrictions on their compromising boundaries have been made. TikTok have since released tough parental controls to filter out inappropriate content and to ensure they can provide sufficient protection and security. [ 175 ] A viral TikTok vogue known as “ devious licks “ involve students vandalizing or stealing educate property and posting the video of the action on the platform. The drift has led to increasing school vandalism and subsequent measures taken by some schools to prevent damage. Some students have been arrested for participating in the drift. [ 176 ] [ 177 ] TikTok has taken measures to remove and prevent access to content displaying the swerve. [ 178 ] The Wall Street Journal has reported that doctors experienced a surge in report cases of tics, tied to an increasing number of TikTok video from contentedness creators with Tourette syndrome. Doctors suggested that the cause may be a sociable one as users who consumed content showcasing respective tics would sometimes develop tics of their own. [ 179 ] In March 2022, the Washington Post reported that Facebook owner Meta Platforms had paid Targeted Victory—a consulting firm backed by supporters of the U.S. Republican Party —to organize lobby and media campaigns against TikTok to portray it as “ a danger to American children and society ”, chiefly to counter criticism of Facebook ‘s own services. This included op-eds and letters to the editor program in regional publications, the amplification of “ doubtful local news stories citing TikTok as the origin of dangerous adolescent trends ” ( such as the aforesaid “ devious licks ”, and an alleged “ Slap a Teacher ” challenge ), including those whose initial development actually began on Facebook, and the alike promotion of “ proactive coverage ” of Facebook corporate initiatives. [ 180 ]
cultural annexation and asymmetry in monetization for blacken creators
numerous examples of white TikTokers stealing content that was created initially by black capacity creators have been noted on the platform. In June 2021, the New York Times published an investigation into the practice as partially of the Hulu objective, Who Gets to be an Influencer? [ 181 ] In July 2021, after Megan Thee Stallion released “ Thot Shit, ” there was a general strike by Black TikTokers who refused to make dances to it as they normally would, in protest of the unfairness of recompense for Black creators and white creators who stole the Black creators ‘ content. [ 182 ]
misinformation
In January 2020, Media Matters for America said that TikTok hosted misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic despite a holocene policy against misinformation. [ 183 ] In April 2020, the government of India asked TikTok to remove users posting misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. [ 184 ] There were besides multiple conspiracy theories that the government is involved with the bedspread of the pandemic. [ 185 ] As a response to this, TikTok launched a feature of speech to report contented for misinformation. [ 186 ]
content censoring and temperance by the platform
TikTok ‘s censoring policy has been criticized as non-transparent. [ 187 ] Criticism of leaders such as Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Mahatma Gandhi [ 188 ] and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan [ 189 ] has been suppressed by the platform, equally well as information relating to the Xinjiang imprisonment camps and the abuse of Uyghurs in the region. [ 190 ] [ 191 ] Internal documents have revealed that moderators suppress posts created by users deemed “ besides atrocious, poor, or disabled ” for the platform, and censor political speech in livestreams. [ 192 ] [ 193 ] [ 194 ] TikTok moderators have besides blocked content that could be perceived as being incontrovertible towards LGBT people. [ 189 ] [ 195 ] In answer to the 2022 russian invasion of Ukraine, TikTok banned new russian posts and livestreams. [ 196 ] [ 197 ] [ 198 ]
ISIL propaganda
In October 2019, TikTok removed about two twelve accounts that were responsible for posting ISIS propaganda on the app. [ 199 ] [ 200 ]
User privacy concerns
privacy concerns have besides been brought up regarding the app. [ 201 ] [ 202 ] In its privacy policy, TikTok lists that it collects usage information, IP addresses, a drug user ‘s mobile carrier wave, singular device identifiers, keystroke patterns, and location data, among early data. [ 203 ] [ 204 ] Web developers Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk said that allowing videos and other contented being shared by the app ‘s users through HTTP puts the users ‘ data privacy at risk. [ 205 ] In January 2020, Check Point Research discovered a security defect in TikTok which could have allowed hackers access to user accounts using SMS. [ 206 ] In February, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman criticised the app, calling it “ spyware, ” and stating “ I look at that app as so basically epenthetic, that it ‘s constantly listening, the fingerprinting engineering they use is truly terrify, and I could not bring myself to install an app like that on my earphone. ” [ 207 ] [ 208 ] Responding to Huffman ‘s comments, TikTok stated, “ These are baseless accusations made without a shred of evidence. ” [ 203 ] Wells Fargo banned the app from its devices due to privacy and security system concerns. [ 209 ] In May 2020, the Dutch Data Protection Authority announced an investigation into TikTok in relation to privacy protections for children. [ 210 ] [ 211 ] In June 2020, the European Data Protection Board announced that it would assemble a task force to examine TikTok ‘s user privacy and security practices. [ 212 ] In August 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that TikTok tracked Android user data, including MAC addresses and IMEIs, with a tactic in trespass of Google ‘s policies. [ 213 ] [ 214 ] The report sparked calls in the U.S. Senate for the Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ) to launch an investigation. [ 215 ] In June 2021, TikTok updated its privacy policy to include solicitation of biometric data, including “ faceprints and voiceprints. ” [ 216 ] Some experts reacted by calling the terms of collection and data use “ dim ” and “ highly baffling. ” [ 217 ] The like month, CNBC reported that former employees had stated that “ the boundaries between TikTok and ByteDance were so bleary as to be about non-existent ” and that “ ByteDance employees are able to access U.S. drug user data ” on TikTok. [ 218 ] In October 2021, following the Facebook Files and controversies about social media ethics, a bipartisan group of lawmakers besides pressed TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat on questions of data privacy and moderation for long time appropriate content. The New York Times reported, “ Lawmakers besides hammered [ head of U.S. policy at TikTok ] Mr. Beckerman about whether TikTok ’ s taiwanese possession could expose consumer data to Beijing, ” stating that “ Critics have long argued that the company would be obligated to turn Americans ’ data over to the chinese government if asked. ” [ 219 ] TikTok told U.S. lawmakers it does not give information to China ‘s government. TikTok ‘s congressman stated that TikTok ‘s datum is stored in the U.S. with backups in Singapore. According to the company ‘s representative, TikTok had ‘no affiliation ‘ with the subordinate Beijing ByteDance Technology, in which the chinese government has a minority post and dining table seat. [ 220 ]
U.S. COPPA fines
On 27 February 2019, the United States Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ) fined ByteDance U.S. $ 5.7 million for collecting information from minors under the senesce of 13 in trespass of the Children ‘s Online Privacy Protection Act. [ 221 ] ByteDance responded by adding a kids-only mood to TikTok which blocks the upload of video, the construction of drug user profiles, direct message, and commenting on others ‘ videos, while even allowing the wake and recording of capacity. [ 222 ] In May 2020, an advocacy group filed a ailment with the FTC saying that TikTok had violated the terms of the February 2019 consent decree, which sparked subsequent Congressional calls for a renewed FTC probe. [ 223 ] [ 224 ] [ 225 ] [ 226 ] In July 2020, it was reported that the FTC and the United States Department of Justice had initiated investigations. [ 227 ]
united kingdom Information Commissioner ‘s Office probe
In February 2019, the United Kingdom ‘s Information Commissioner ‘s Office launched an investigation of TikTok following the very well ByteDance received from the United States Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ). Speaking to a parliamentary committee, Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said that the investigation focuses on the issues of private data solicitation, the kind of video recording collected and shared by children on-line, a well as the chopine ‘s afford message system which allows any adult to message any child. She noted that the caller was potentially violating the General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ) which requires the ship’s company to provide different services and different protections for children. [ 228 ]
italian Data Protection Authority
On 22 January 2021, the Italian Data Protection Authority ordered the parry of the use of the datum of users whose age has not been established on the social network. [ 229 ] [ 230 ] The ordering was issued after the death of a 10-year-old sicilian girl, which occurred after the execution of a challenge shared by users of the chopine that involved attempting to choke the user with a knock around the neck. The obstruct is set to remain in place until 15 February, when it will be re-evaluated. [ 231 ]
Ireland Data Protection Commission
In September 2021, the Ireland Data Protection Commissioner opened investigations into TikTok concerning protective covering of minors ‘ data and transfers of personal data to China. [ 232 ] [ 233 ]
Texas Attorney General investigation
In February 2022, the Texas Attorney General initiated an investigation into TikTok for alleged violations of children ‘s privacy and facilitation of human traffic. [ 234 ]
Cyberbullying
As with early platforms, [ 235 ] journalists in several countries have raised privacy concerns about the app, because it is popular with children and has the electric potential to be used by intimate predators. [ 235 ] [ 236 ] [ 237 ] [ 238 ] respective users have reported endemic cyberbullying on TikTok, [ 239 ] [ 240 ] including racism [ 241 ] and ableism. [ 242 ] [ 243 ] [ 244 ] In December 2019, following a report by german digital rights group Netzpolitik.org, TikTok admitted that it had suppressed videos by disabled users arsenic well as LGBTQ+ users in a aim campaign to limit cyberbullying. [ 245 ] [ 192 ] TikTok ‘s moderators were besides told to suppress users with “ abnormal body determine, ” “ despicable facial looks, ” “ besides many wrinkles, ” or in “ slums, rural fields ” and “ dilapidated house ” to prevent bullying. [ 246 ] In 2021, the platform revealed that it will be introducing a feature that will prevent teenagers from receiving notifications past their bedtime. The party will no longer send crusade notifications after 9pm to users aged between 13 and 15. For 16 to 17 year olds notifications will not be sent after 10pm. [ 247 ]
Microtransactions
TikTok has received criticism for enabling children to spend big sums of money buying coins to send to early users. [ 248 ]
impact on mental health
In February 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that “ Mental-health professionals around the country are growing increasingly concerned about the effects on adolescent girls of posting sexualized TikTok videos. ” [ 249 ] In March 2022, a coalition of U.S. department of state attorneys cosmopolitan launched an investigation into TikTok ‘s effect on children ‘s genial health. [ 250 ]
Legal issues
Tencent lawsuits
Tencent ‘s WeChat chopine has been accused of blocking Douyin ‘s video. [ 251 ] [ 252 ] In April 2018, Douyin sued Tencent and accused it of spreading false and damage information on its WeChat platform, demanding CN¥ 1 million in recompense and an apology. In June 2018, Tencent filed a lawsuit against Toutiao and Douyin in a Beijing woo, alleging they had repeatedly defamed Tencent with negative news program and damaged its repute, seeking a nominal total of CN¥1 in compensation and a public apology. [ 253 ] In response, Toutiao filed a complaint the succeed day against Tencent for allegedly unfair competition and asking for CN¥90 million in economic losses. [ 254 ]
Data transfer class action lawsuit
In November 2019, a class military action lawsuit was filed in California that alleged that TikTok transferred personally identifiable information of U.S. persons to servers located in China owned by Tencent and Alibaba. [ 255 ] [ 256 ] [ 257 ] The lawsuit besides accused ByteDance, TikTok ‘s rear caller, of taking drug user content without their permission. The plaintiff of the lawsuit, college scholar Misty Hong, downloaded the app but said she never created an report. She realized a few months later that TikTok has created an report for her using her information ( such as biometric ) and made a drumhead of her information. The lawsuit besides alleged that data was sent to taiwanese technical school giant star Baidu. [ 258 ] In July 2020, twenty lawsuits against TikTok were merged into a unmarried class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. [ 259 ] In February 2021, TikTok agreed to pay $ 92 million to settle the class natural process lawsuit. [ 260 ]
Voice actor lawsuit
In May 2021, canadian voice actor Bev Standing filed a lawsuit against TikTok over use of her voice in a percolate without license. The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York. TikTok declined to comment. She believes the company used recordings made for the chinese government-run Institute of Acoustics. [ 261 ]
market Information Research Foundation lawsuit
In June 2021, the Netherlands-based Market Information Research Foundation ( SOMI ) filed a €1.4 billion lawsuit on behalf of dutch parents against TikTok, alleging that the app gathers data on children without adequate permission. [ 262 ]
