Trump bans US transactions with Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Admin

Executive order comes as TikTok faces scrutiny from US lawmakers and Trump administration over national security concerns

Donald Trump has issued a pair of executive orders that would ban any US transactions with the Chinese companies that own TikTok and WeChat, saying the US must take “aggressive action” in the interest of national security.

Executive orders issued late on Thursday would prohibit “any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States,” with the companies, beginning in 45 days.

TikTok row: China hits out at US ‘smash and grab’ as tech dispute deepens

Posted on August 4, 2020 by Admin

Foreign affairs spokesman accuses US of hypocrisy and editorial in state-run newspaper decries choice between submission at ‘mortal combat’

The US has offered China the “choice of submission or mortal combat in the tech realm”, state media in Beijing have said, as the two rival powers manoeuvred on the thorny issue of splitting up TikTok.

The popular video-sharing app has joined Huawei to become a technology flashpoint, with Chinese officials and media rushing to defend it following Donald Trump’s threat of a US ban.

TikTok row: Microsoft pursues deal as Pompeo says Trump will take action soon

Posted on August 2, 2020 by Admin

Microsoft confirms acquisition plans, hours after US secretary of state says Chinese software companies are feeding data directly to Communist party

Donald Trump will take action in coming days to tackle an array of national security risks presented by TikTok and other Chinese software companies, Mike Pompeo has said, as Microsoft revealed it was pursuing a deal after speaking to the US president.

Microsoft said late on Sunday that - after a conversation between Trump and its CEO, Satya Nadella – it would move quickly on acquisition talks with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, completing talks no later than 15 September. It pledged to ensure that all private data of American users was transferred to, and remained in, the US.

TikTok: Trump suggests US may ban Chinese-owned app

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Admin

The US is reportedly preparing to take action against the popular short video app over concerns for the security of personal data

Donald Trump on Friday again suggested the US may take action against the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok, floating a potential ban.

“We’re looking at TikTok. We may be banning TikTok. We may be doing some other things,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House on a trip to Florida.

TikTok halts talks on London HQ amid UK-China tensions

Posted on July 19, 2020 by Admin

Video-sharing app suspends building plans, with British ban on Huawei 5G kit seen as factor

The Chinese social media firm TikTok has pulled back from talks to site the headquarters for its non-China business in the UK, threatening the creation of 3,000 jobs, as fears grow of a tit-for-tat trade war between London and Beijing.

Its parent company, ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, had spent months in negotiations with the Department for International Trade and No 10 officials to expand operations in addition to the near 800 employed by TikTok.

India bans TikTok after Himalayan border clash with Chinese troops

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Admin

Government blacklists more than 50 Chinese-made apps, citing ‘threat to sovereignty’

The Indian government has banned TikTok, the hugely popular social media app, as part of sweeping anti-China measures after a violent confrontation between Indian and Chinese troops.

TikTok is one of more than 50 Chinese-made apps that have been banned by the Ministry of Information over concerns that they “pose a threat to sovereignty and security” of India.

TikTok is the social media sensation of lockdown. Could I become its new star?

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Admin

With families and couples filming themselves dancing or performing skits, the app has become even more popular in recent weeks. I asked its British stars to help me get started

Andy Warhol predicted a time everyone would have 15 minutes of fame. He was nearly right – it is actually 15 seconds. That is the maximum duration of a video clip with music (non-music clips can last up to a minute) on TikTok, the video-sharing platform that has taken the world by storm. Favoured by under-25s, who make up its core audience, TikTok this year surpassed Facebook and WhatsApp as the world’s most downloaded non-gaming app.

TikTok’s content doesn’t take itself too seriously, and ranges from food to fashion, pranks to pets – as well as the ubiquitous dance challenges. It is a perfect fit, in other words, for the lockdown, when many of us are stuck inside and in desperate need of some silly fun. This may be why, even if you haven’t downloaded it, you suddenly find, clogging up your social media, clips of Justin Bieber dancing to I’m a Savage by Megan Thee Stallion, or Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez swapping outfits to Drake’s Flip the Switch. It seems everyone from doctors and nurses in PPE to bemused parents quarantined with teenagers are flocking to the app – and sometimes going viral in the process.

TikTok ‘tried to filter out videos from ugly, poor or disabled users’

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Admin

Documents from the Incercept show social media app put pressure on moderators

TikTok moderators were told to suppress videos from users who appeared too ugly, poor or disabled, as part of the company’s efforts to curate an aspirational air in the videos it promotes, according to new documents published by the Intercept.

The documents detail how moderators for the social video app were instructed to select content for the influential “For You” feed, an algorithmic timeline that is most users’ first port of call when they open the app. As a result, being selected for For You can drive huge numbers of views to a given video, but the selection criteria have always remained a secret, with little understanding as to the amount of automation involved.

TikTok owns up to censoring some users’ videos to stop bullying

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Admin

Chinese owned video-sharing site restricted posts by users it identified as disabled, fat or LGBTQ+

TikTok has admitted censoring posts by users it identified as disabled, fat or LGBTQ+ as part of a misguided effort to cut down on bullying on the platform.

According to a report from the German site NetzPolitik.org, the video-sharing site artificially limited the reach of users who it thought would be vulnerable to bullying if their videos reached a wide audience.

Revealed: how TikTok censors videos that do not please Beijing

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Admin

Leak spells out how social media app advances China’s foreign policy aims

TikTok, the popular Chinese-owned social network, instructs its moderators to censor videos that mention Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, or the banned religious group Falun Gong, according to leaked documents detailing the site’s moderation guidelines.

The documents, revealed by the Guardian for the first time, lay out how ByteDance, the Beijing-headquartered technology company that owns TikTok, is advancing Chinese foreign policy aims abroad through the app.