How 2023 became the year Congress forgot to ban TikTok

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Admin

Momentum seemed to be on their side of US lawmakers this year to stop 150 million Americans from using TikTok. What happened?

Banning TikTok in the US seemed almost inevitable at the start of 2023. The previous year saw a trickle of legislative actions against the short-form video app, after dozens of individual states barred TikTok from government devices in late 2022 over security concerns. At the top of the new year, the US House followed suit, and four universities blocked TikTok from campus wifi.

The movement to prohibit TikTok grew into a flash flood by spring. CEO Shou Zi Chew was called before Congress for brutal questioning in March. By April – with support from the White House (and Joe Biden’s predecessor) – it seemed a federal ban of the app was not just possible, but imminent.

Nikki Haley says TikTok makes people ‘17% more antisemitic, more pro-Hamas’

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Admin

Republican presidential contender mocked for claim about Chinese-owned app during primary debate on Wednesday night

The former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley claimed during the Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday that watching TikTok made people “17% more antisemitic, more pro-Hamas” every 30 minutes.

“We really do need to ban TikTok once and for all and let me tell you why,” Haley said. “For every 30 minutes that someone watches TikTok every day they become 17% more antisemitic, more pro-Hamas based on doing that.”

B&Q owner issues another profit warning after weak sales in France

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Admin

UK business lifted by ‘improve not move’ trend and interior design videos on TikTok

The owner of B&Q and Screwfix issued its second profit warning in three months after weak sales in France but said its UK business is being boosted by the “improve not move” trend and interior design videos on TikTok.

Kingfisher, which also owns Castorama and Brico Dépôt in France and operates in Poland, Iberia and Romania, too, reported an almost 4% sales decline in its financial third quarter, prompting a downgrade in its annual profit forecast from £590m to £560m.

Nepal says it will ban TikTok, citing effect on ‘social harmony’

Posted on November 13, 2023 by Admin

Minister for communications and information technology says the popular video-sharing platform ‘disrupts family structures’

Nepal has said it will ban TikTok, citing negative effects on the country’s “social harmony”.

The popular video-sharing platform, which has around a billion monthly users, has faced restrictions in many countries for alleged breaches of data rules and for the potentially harmful impact on youth of some content.

How Israel-Hamas war disinformation is being spread online

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Admin

Case of footage from set of Palestinian film being repurposed to make false claims is far from one-off

Israel and Hamas at war – live updates

The video shows a young boy in a black T-shirt apparently lying in a pool of blood on the ground. Above him is a camera, with a man shouting directions near him. Two men in kippahs, the Jewish skull caps, and men in green military fatigues similar to Israel Defence Forces (IDF) uniforms are gathered around him.

The clip has been viewed about 2m times on X, formerly known as Twitter. It was shared by a verified user with the caption: “Video showing Israel attempting to create fake footage of deaths.”

Indonesia bans e-commerce sales on social media platforms like TikTok

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Admin

Government says regulation aimed at protecting small businesses from competition

Indonesia has banned goods transactions on social media platforms as it aims to protect small businesses from e-commerce competition.

Calls had grown in recent months for a regulation governing social media and e-commerce, with offline sellers seeing their livelihoods threatened by the sale of cheaper products on TikTok Shop and other platforms.

TikTok has matchmaking service for staff to play cupid for co-workers

Posted on September 22, 2023 by Admin

Meet Cute on company’s intranet allows employees to advertise family and acquaintances to colleagues

TikTok has an internal matchmaking service for employees to introduce their colleagues to friends and family members, it has been revealed.

The channel, called Meet Cute, sits on the workplace tool used by thousands of TikTok employees around the world for document hosting, video conferencing. It also helps people find a potential romantic partner from among their colleagues.

TikTok fined €345m for breaking EU data law on children’s accounts

Posted on September 15, 2023 by Admin

Irish data regulator says platform put 13- to 17-year-old users’ accounts on default public setting, among other breaches

TikTok has been fined €345m (£296m) for breaking EU data law in its handling of children’s accounts, including failing to shield underage users’ content from public view.

The Irish data watchdog, which regulates TikTok across the EU, said the Chinese-owned video app had committed multiple breaches of GDPR rules.

TikTok removes 284 accounts linked to Chinese disinformation group

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Admin

Action by social media company comes after Facebook parent company Meta shut down 9,000 accounts tied to political spam network

TikTok has removed 284 accounts associated with a Chinese disinformation campaign after Guardian Australia raised questions about several accounts uncovered by the company’s rival Meta.

On Wednesday, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram reported it had shut down close to 9,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts, groups and pages associated with a Chinese political spam network that had targeted users in Australia and other parts of the world.

Hawaii fires: spread of conspiracy theories reveals tech firms’ failings

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Admin

From secret ‘energy weapon’ starting fires to a global cabal razing the town for an experiment – false theories are fast gaining ground

In the aftermath of the devastating wildfires in Maui, misinformation and conspiracy theories have spread online, underscoring the shortcomings of social media firms’ enforcement policies following disasters.

Conspiracy theories including that the fire was started intentionally by a secret “energy weapon” and that a shadowy cabal of global elites set the blazes purposefully to clear the land for their own nefarious uses have gained popularity.

Teens much more likely to believe online conspiracy claims than adults – US study

Posted on August 16, 2023 by Admin

Study shows that 60% of teens between ages 13-17 agreed with four or more conspiracy statements compared with 49% of adults

Teenagers are significantly more likely to believe online conspiracy theories than older generations, a new study has shown, underscoring the broad impacts of gen Z’s relationship with social media.

Findings from Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a non-profit that fights misinformation, showed that 60% of 13-17-year-old Americans surveyed agreed with four or more harmful conspiracy statements – compared with just 49% of adults. For teens who spend four or more hours a day on any single social media platform, the figure was as high as 69%.

‘Two different lives’: how TikTok fame swept up mother who killed lover

Posted on August 4, 2023 by Admin

Ansreen Bukhari and her daughter, Mahek, partied together and ended up plotting to murder two young men

Ex-TikTok influencer and her mother guilty of murdering two men

When she gave evidence at Leicester crown court, 46-year-old Ansreen Bukhari described how her daughter’s fame on TikTok had completely transformed her life.

“When I got married I was like a housewife, but with this TikTok thing I was going out more. It was like two different lives,” she said. “It was more excitement. We were out and meeting people and stuff.”

‘Freakin’ it out’: lip-syncing New Jersey judge in hot water over TikTok videos

Posted on July 5, 2023 by Admin

Gary Wilcox allegedly performed to graphically sexual and violent songs while wearing his robes at court and in chambers

A judge in New Jersey is under investigation for allegedly filming TikTok videos in which he lip-synced to popular songs, at times in his bed or his judicial chambers.

Last Friday, the advisory committee on judicial conduct in New Jersey’s supreme court filed a complaint against Gary Wilcox, a 58-year-old superior court judge who presides over criminal cases in Bergen county.

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Category Archives: TikTok

How 2023 became the year Congress forgot to ban TikTok

Nikki Haley says TikTok makes people ‘17% more antisemitic, more pro-Hamas’

B&Q owner issues another profit warning after weak sales in France

Nepal says it will ban TikTok, citing effect on ‘social harmony’

Indonesia bans e-commerce sales on social media platforms like TikTok

TikTok has matchmaking service for staff to play cupid for co-workers

TikTok removes 284 accounts linked to Chinese disinformation group

Hawaii fires: spread of conspiracy theories reveals tech firms’ failings

Teens much more likely to believe online conspiracy claims than adults – US study

‘Two different lives’: how TikTok fame swept up mother who killed lover

‘Freakin’ it out’: lip-syncing New Jersey judge in hot water over TikTok videos