TikTok

Social Media Giant Meta Offered TikTokers $5,000 To Join Facebook And Instagram

Social Media Giant Meta Offered TikTokers $5,000 To Join Facebook And Instagram

Social media giant Meta has offered to pay up to $5,000 (£4,040) to popular creators in the United States who join Facebook and Instagram. It says those joining from "third-party social apps" will get cash based on "an evaluation of your social presence". Though it does not mention TikTok by name, the timing would suggest Meta is attempting to capitalise on the uncertainty surrounding its rival, as questions swirl about whether President Trump can find a way of preserving it for US users. TikTok says it has 170 million users in the US - with many of them relying on…
Read More
TikTok Restores Service In US After Trump Pledge

TikTok Restores Service In US After Trump Pledge

TikTok is resuming services to its 170 million users in US after President-elect Donald Trump said he would issue an executive order to give the app a reprieve when he takes office on Monday. On Saturday evening, the Chinese-owned app stopped working for American users, after a law banning it on national security grounds came into effect. Trump, who had previously backed a ban of the platform, promised on Sunday to delay implementation of the law and allow more time for a deal to be made. TikTok then said that it was in the process of "restoring service". Soon after,…
Read More
TikTok Ban Puts 170 Million U.S. Users At Risk Of Losing Access By Sunday

TikTok Ban Puts 170 Million U.S. Users At Risk Of Losing Access By Sunday

TikTok on Friday said that it would turn off more than 170 million Americans’ access to the super popular video app on Sunday, unless President Joe Biden’s administration acts urgently to assure the company it will not be punished for violating the terms of its looming ban. The Supreme Court earlier in the day allowed a controversial ban to stand. Biden signed the bill in April, which was passed with strong bipartisan support in Congress. The law requires TikTok to sell to American buyers by Sunday or face a ban in the United States But the Biden administration signaled it…
Read More
Trump Meeting TikTok CEO As Ban Deadline Looms

Trump Meeting TikTok CEO As Ban Deadline Looms

US President-elect Donald Trump is meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago estate to discuss the social media giant's battle against a potential ban in the US. A law passed this year mandates TikTok's sale by its Chinese parent company ByteDance before 19 January or face a ban due to alleged security concerns. TikTok has filed an emergency request with the US Supreme Court to delay the ban. Despite supporting a ban during his first term, Trump opposes it now, citing potential benefits to Facebook, which he accuses of aiding his 2020 election loss. TikTok argues that…
Read More
TikTok Owner Sacks Intern For Sabotaging AI Project

TikTok Owner Sacks Intern For Sabotaging AI Project

TikTok owner, ByteDance, says it has sacked an intern for “maliciously interfering” with the training of one of its artificial intelligence (AI) models. But the firm rejected claims about the extent of the damage caused by the unnamed individual, saying they “contain some exaggerations and inaccuracies”. It comes after reports about the incident spread over the weekend on social media. The Chinese technology giant’s Doubao ChatGPT-like generative AI model is the country’s most popular AI chatbot. “The individual was an intern with the [advertising] technology team and has no experience with the AI Lab,” ByteDance said in a statement. “Their…
Read More
TikTok Sued By 14 Attorneys General Over Alleged Harm To Children’s Mental Health

TikTok Sued By 14 Attorneys General Over Alleged Harm To Children’s Mental Health

A bipartisan group of 14 attorneys general from across the country filed lawsuits on Tuesday against TikTok, alleging that the platform has “addicted” young people and harmed their mental health. The lawsuits take issue with various elements of the TikTok platform, including its endlessly scrolling feed of content, TikTok “challenge” videos that sometimes encourage users to engage in risky behaviour and late-night push notifications that the attorneys general claim can disrupt kids’ sleep. The lawsuits were each filed separately by members of the coalition, co-led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta. And they mark just…
Read More
TikTok Faces New Claim Of Violating Child Privacy

TikTok Faces New Claim Of Violating Child Privacy

The FTC Act targets “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” by companies. In response, a TikTok spokesperson said the company disagreed with the allegations and that it had "been working with the FTC for more than a year to address its concerns." "We're disappointed the agency is pursuing litigation instead of continuing to work with us on a reasonable solution," they added. When could TikTok be banned under new US law? A DOJ spokesperson told BBC News they "cannot comment on the substance of the referral from the FTC against TikTok." "Consistent with our normal approach, the Justice Department consulted…
Read More
Boomplay And TikTok Announce Partnership To Amplify African Music

Boomplay And TikTok Announce Partnership To Amplify African Music

Africa-facing music streaming and download platform, Boomplay has announced a partnership with global short videos brand, TikTok, that explores cross-promotion of trending content on both platforms via mutual playlists and content discovery. Users of both platforms will be pleased to know that Boomplay will now host a playlist of TikTok trending sounds, while TikTok will have Boomplay’s top songs as part of its discovery and sound pages. The mutual playlists, tagged TikTokPicks and BoomplayPicks, will feature songs that made it into the top trending songs on both platforms each week, with TikTok's list focusing on user-created content and songs that…
Read More
European Commission Bans Tiktok On Staff Devices

European Commission Bans Tiktok On Staff Devices

Staff working at the European Commission have been ordered to remove the TikTok app from their phones and corporate devices. The commission said it was implementing the measure to “protect data and increase cybersecurity”. TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has faced allegations that it harvests users’ data and hands it to the Chinese government. TikTok insists it operates no differently from other social media. European Union (EU) industry chief Thierry Breton told a news conference that the union’s executive is very focused on cybersecurity, declining to provide further details. The ban also means that European Commission staff cannot use…
Read More
Inappropriate TikTok Materials Affront To Ghana’s Culture —NCC Director

Inappropriate TikTok Materials Affront To Ghana’s Culture —NCC Director

The Director for Policy Planning, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at the National Commission on Culture (NCC), Richardson Commey Fio has raised concerns about how inappropriate some materials on social media platform, TikTok, are an insult to Ghanaian culture. He is of the view that Ghanaian culture promoted decency, and the platform dominated by the youth, was gradually evolving into a hub of immorality. “Some individuals are now very popular or referred to as celebrities because of how famous their TikTok accounts have become. However, the kind of contents that are mostly shared on this app currently are becoming a threat…
Read More