By searching for four keywords—Uyghur, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Tiananmen, the researchers found that TikTok returned a higher percentage of positive, neutral, or irrelevant content related to human rights in China. ByteDance said its early guidelines were global and aimed at reducing online harassment and divisiveness when its platforms were still growing. The consumption of alcohol, full or partial nudity, LGBT, and intersex contents were restricted even in places where they are legal. A more specific list banned criticisms against world leaders, including past and present ones from Russia, the United States, Japan, North and South Korea, India, Indonesia, and Turkey. However, some employees have abused it to promote their slotrize casino no deposit bonus own accounts or those of their spouses, while others have felt that their guidelines leave too much room for discretion. The practice began as a way to grow and diversify content and influencers that were not automatically picked up by the recommendation algorithm.
TikTok has also received criticism for enabling children to purchase coins which they can send to other users. TikTok executives and representatives have noted and made aware to advertisers on the platform that users have poor attention spans. Nonetheless, several users have reported cyberbullying via features such as Duet or React, which is used to interact with followers. In August 2022, software engineer and security researcher Felix Krause found that in-app browsers from TikTok and other platforms contained codes for keylogger functionality but did not have the means to further investigate whether any data was tracked or recorded. The data included IP addresses, which can be used to approximate a user's location. A new subsidiary, TikTok U.S. Data Security Inc. (USDS), was created to manage user data, software code, back-end systems, and content moderation.
They have been replaced by versions customized by local teams for users in different regions. TikTok moderators were instructed to suppress posts from "For You" recommendations if the users shown were deemed "too ugly, poor, or disabled". Other human rights activists have also said that their TikTok videos discussing human rights violations of the Uyghurs have been taken down. This led many creators to stop creating new content which they were not already contractually obligated to create. Some TikTok users criticized the trend for promoting an unobtainable beauty standard.
Some adult content creators have found a way to game TikTok's recommendation algorithm by posting riddles, attracting a large number of viewers that struggled to solve them. In response, they began substituting words in their captions and videos and using filters to censor explicit images. In 2020, TikTok updated their terms of service to ban content that promotes "premium sexual content", impacting a large number of adult content creators. TikTok is regularly used by sex workers to promote pornographic content sold on platforms such as OnlyFans. 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.
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Data collected by TikTok and other social networks can already be purchased through other means. As of February 2023, at least 32 (of 50) states have announced or enacted bans on state government agencies, employees, and contractors using TikTok on government-issued devices. 7521, which would ban TikTok entirely unless it was divested from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. President Joe Biden signed an executive order revoking the Trump administration ban on TikTok, and instead ordered the Secretary of Commerce to investigate the app to determine if it poses a threat to U.S. national security. In January 2020, the United States Army and Navy banned TikTok on government devices after the Defense Department labeled it a security risk.
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Their short attention spans posed a challenge for TikTok to pivot towards longer content formats. This is a concern as many of TikTok's audience are younger children, whose brains are still developing. TikTok uses popular influencers to encourage viewers to stop using the app and take a break. Vox noted in 2018 that bullies and trolls were relatively rare on TikTok compared to other platforms. In December 2023, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner announced an inquiry into TikTok's data harvesting of Australian citizens amid allegations that it contravened Australian privacy law.
- Data collected by TikTok and other social networks can already be purchased through other means.
- The differences between Douyin and TikTok have led some U.S. politicians and commentators to accuse the company or the Chinese government of malicious intent.
- Competition from TikTok prompted Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, to spend $120 million as of 2022 to entice more content creators to its Reels service, although engagement level remained low.
- The Israeli Defense Force actively recruits influencers on TikTok and other social media platforms, often with what commentators have dubbed “Thirst traps”.
- In the United States, Jimmy Fallon, Tony Hawk, and other celebrities began using the app in 2018.
- The song rose to popularity when musician Daniel Mertzlufft composed a backing track to the song.
- Doctors suggested that the cause may be a social one as users who consumed content showcasing various tics would sometimes develop tics of their own, akin to mass psychogenic illness.
Other TikTok creators have spoken out against accepting sponsorship deals indiscriminately and criticized those who posted undisclosed FeetFinder ads. Publishers were increasingly using the platform as a venue for influencer marketing. Influencers on the platform who earn money through engagement, such as likes and comments, are referred to as "meme machines". As the platform has grown significantly over the past few years, it has allowed companies to advertise and rapidly reach their intended demographic through influencer marketing.
Australian Information Commissioner inquiry
By January 2021, the hashtag #nosejob had accumulated 1.6 billion views, #nosejobcheck had accumulated 1 billion views, and the audio used in the #NoseJobCheck trend had been used in 120,000 videos. Realistic videos about how differently pieces of garment fit on a model compared to how they fit on a typical consumer resonated with many who had believed that they were alone in their struggle. Another TikTok trend known as the Kia Challenge involves users stealing certain models of Kia and Hyundai cars manufactured without immobilizers, which was a standard feature at the time, between 2010 and 2021. Since Mertzlufft's video, many new elements including costume design, additional songs, and a playbill have been created. In June 2020, TikTok users and K-pop fans "claimed to have registered potentially hundreds of thousands of tickets" for President Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma through communication on TikTok, contributing to "rows of empty seats" at the event.
Privacy Commissioner of Canada
The terms said that user authorization would be requested if local law demands such. Since 2021, TikTok has created "election centres" on its platform leading up to European Parliament elections. This increased potential Web traffic linked to the riddle posters' accounts on OnlyFans.
- Concerns have been voiced regarding content relating to, and the promotion and spreading of, hate speech and far-right extremism, such as antisemitism, islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia.
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- Duets, a feature that allows users to add their own video to an existing video with the original content’s audio, have sparked many of these trends.
- The researchers said this is because some YouTube accounts are linked to state actors.
- Musical.ly was a social media video platform that allowed users to create short lip-sync and comedy videos, initially released in August 2014.
- In December 2022, it was reported that a cosmetic surgery procedure known as buccal fat removal was going viral on the platform.
The platform has also launched many songs that failed to garner initial commercial success into sleeper hits, particularly since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, despite never having toured in Asia, the band Fitz and the Tantrums developed a large following in South Korea following the widespread popularity of their 2016 song "HandClap" on the platform. Charli D'Amelio remained the most-followed individual on the platform until she was surpassed by Khaby Lame on 23 June 2022.
The users had shared on TikTok an article published by celebscritic.com alleging that K. TikTok partnered with the National Association of Secretaries of State to give accurate local information to users. TikTok removed some of these videos and has generally added links to accurate COVID-19 information on videos with tags related to the pandemic. Although they were removed by TikTok after the report, mixing audio remains an effective way to evade content moderation on many platforms. In September 2024, Sky News reported that clips of Adolf Hitler's speeches with added music were attracting high levels of engagement on TikTok. In Malaysia, TikTok is used by some users to engage in hate speech against race and religion especially mentioning the 13 May incident after the 2022 election.