TikTok is under investigation by US government agencies over its handling of child sexual abuse material, as the burgeoning short-form video app struggles to moderate a flood of new content.
FBI director says TikTok poses U.S. national security concerns The FBI is concerned that the Chinese government could use TikTok to influence American users or control their devices.
The president of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, has confirmed there are multiple ongoing investigations into TikTok . The probes concern the transfer of EU citizens' data to China and targeted advertising aimed at minors.
The Biden administration is investigating TikTok's plan to house its data in the U.S. as part of a sweeping years-long review over whether the company's ties to China are a national security threat. It's unclear when the probe will end.
Now TikTok is facing its own similar scandals, topped by concerns that the app is handing US user data over to Chinese authorities.
The US government has banned TikTok on federal government-issued devices due to national security concerns over its China-based parent company, ByteDance. The US fears that the Chinese government may leverage TikTok to access those devices and US user data.
Suggestive Content Abounds
With TikTok being mostly based on music and video, profanity and suggestive clothing/dancing are the most obvious sources of adult content. But the app also encourages some themes that are much more mature than their 16+ rating would suggest.
FBI Director Chris Wray believes TikTok poses threats to national security as a Chinese-owned app “that doesn't share our values” and could “manipulate content.” The popular video-sharing app, owned by the Chinese technology company ByteDance, boasted more than 1 billion active global users last year, a majority of ...
Reporting obligations: In certain circumstances, TikTok is subject to legal obligations to report certain user data either to law enforcement authorities or to designated bodies such as the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”).
TikTok has a long history of tracking its users' online behavior without their consent, and in 2021 it started automatically gathering biometric data. Further, according to The Ruck, in 2022 “an independent researcher found code allowing TikTok to log keystrokes.”
The move marks lawmakers' latest step against the short-form video app that has become popular with over a billion users worldwide. US officials fear that TikTok's user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government due to that country's influence over TikTok's parent, ByteDance.
commissioner pushes Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores. Brendan Carr, a Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission, said he was concerned that the Chinese-owned app could provide Beijing with access to the data of Americans.
The efforts have been fueled by government concerns that the Chinese government could gain access to U.S. user data through TikTok's links to China as a ByteDance subsidiary. While the state-level restrictions won't apply to consumer use, they still deal a blow to the company and could foreshadow further restrictions.
They had to file a claim by March 1, 2022. Facebook agreed to a $550 million settlement under the same law in February 2020. In 2019, TikTok agreed to pay $5.7 million to the Federal Trade Commission over allegations the company illegally collected personal information from children.
Is TikTok safe? It's as safe as just about any other social media platform. It doesn't infect your phone with malware, but it comes with some safety risks like scams and saved user data.
The app is owned by the company ByteDance, headquartered in Beijing.
However, unlike YouTube, which collects your data for Google, TikTok allows third-party trackers on its platform – so that means that there's no telling where your Tiktok data goes. Those third-party trackers can also track your activity even after you close Tiktok.
TikTok has the ability to track every tap of your screen while you browse in its iOS app, including typed passwords and clicked links, according to new research by software engineer Felix Krause. In-app browsing refers to any activity on third-party sites that open in the app, rather than in an external window.
If you are concerned that TikTok might be compromising your privacy, you can delete your account. Once you do this, TikTok says it will delete the data it collected from you within 30 days. (Some data, like private messages you sent to other users, might remain visible.)
India chose to ban Chinese apps citing concerns related to TikTok and national security. TikTok was immensely popular in the country before it was blocked, with over 200 million users. TikTok's ban in India is permanent, and the company has withdrawn from the market.
But the app's ownership and control by Chinese tech giant, ByteDance, has raised concerns about whether its access to information about, and ability to influence, millions of U.S. citizens poses a risk to our national security. Read Forbes' reporting on TikTok's ties to China.
ByteDance is the parent company of TikTok and is headquartered in Beijing. The Chinese Communist Party has an ownership stake in ByteDance. Reports suggest more than 100 CCP members are located in ByteDance's Beijing office.
Is TikTok appropriate for kids? TikTok can be a kid-friendly experience if you supervise your kids, use safety settings, and stick to songs you already know. But TikTok's emphasis on popular music means many videos include swearing and sexual lyrics, so it may not be age-appropriate for kids to use on their own.
Jean Twenge, our nation's leading researcher on how social media impacts child and adolescent development, recommends that no child under 13 should be on any social media, including TikTok. And I would add that many 13-year-olds aren't ready. TikTok offers a curated version of their app for under-13s. Don't use it.