Ansreen Bukhari and her daughter, Mahek, partied together and ended up plotting to murder two young 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.”
Continue reading...Senate committee examining foreign interference on social media says it is ‘concerned’ with ‘unique national security risks’ the companies pose
The ban on TikTok from government devices in Australia should be extended to the devices of government contractors, and should also cover WeChat, a parliamentary committee has recommended.
The Senate committee examining foreign interference on social media said in its report tabled on Tuesday that it had been “particularly concerned” with the “unique national security risks” posed by companies like TikTok and WeChat “whose parent companies ByteDance and Tencent respectively, are irrefutably headquartered in and run from authoritarian countries like China”.
Continue reading...eSafety commissioner received 795 requests to remove alleged bullying of children from various social media platforms in past 18 months, with 309 from TikTok
TikTok received more requests from Australia’s eSafety commissioner to remove posts that bullied children in the last 18 months than any other social media platform.
Reddit received the most reports of people’s images being shared without their consent.
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Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Trans social media star says company largely abandoned her amid bullying responses to beer promotion
Dylan Mulvaney has spoken out against Bud Light, criticizing the brand for not supporting her amid transphobic backlash to an advertisement featuring the influencer.
In a TikTok video captioned “Trans people like beer, too”, Mulvaney, who is trans, called out Bud Light for largely abandoning her after she was bullied for posting a sponsored video to Instagram with the beer brand.
Continue reading...Ruling party accessed user data including Sim card ID and IP addresses, former executive alleges in legal filing
A former executive at TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has alleged that the Chinese Communist party accessed user data from the social video app belonging to Hong Kong protesters and civil rights activists.
Yintao Yu, a former head of engineering at ByteDance’s US operation, claimed in a legal filing that a committee of Communist party members accessed TikTok data that included the users’ network information, Sim card identifications and IP addresses in a bid to identify the individuals and their locations.
Continue reading...Last week, Greg Gianforte, the governor, had signed into law a bill that prohibits app stores from offering the video-sharing platform
TikTok has filed a federal lawsuit against Montana over the state’s new law banning the short-video app.
In the suit filed on Monday, the company argues the ban violates first amendment rights of both the company and its users.
Continue reading...Two more companies can now run ads targeting young people and women on social media platform
Australian social media users will see more sports gambling ads after TikTok quietly expanded a controversial trial of wagering partnerships despite widespread criticism.
The decision to increase ads could undermine any federal government action to restrict broadcast promotions, with researchers warning that gambling companies are one step ahead of regulators and are targeting new demographics.
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Continue reading...A trend on the app, which started spreading in 2021, challenged users to steal cars made by the automakers using a USB cable
Hyundai and Kia have agreed to settle a consumer class-action lawsuit worth $200m over rampant thefts of the vehicles because of a TikTok trend.
In February, the Korean automakers said they would offer software upgrades to 8.3m US vehicles to help curb a stark increase in thefts using a method popularized on TikTok and other social media channels.
Continue reading...Greg Gianforte, the governor, signed legislation prohibiting mobile app stores from offering the video-sharing platform by next year
Montana has became the first US state to ban TikTok after the governor signed legislation prohibiting mobile application stores from offering the app within the state by next year.
The move is among the most dramatic in a series of US escalations against TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance. TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny over its ties to China, amid concerns that such links could pose a national security threat.
Continue reading...Several federal departments already banning Chinese communications app after decision on TikTok in early April
The Australian government is resisting issuing a ban on WeChat on government devices despite many government departments instituting their own bans after the TikTok edict earlier this month.
TikTok was banned from government devices in early April over data collection and security concerns connected to the Chinese government.
Continue reading...Australian-US company Internet 2.0 says social media app now seeks users’ altitude information, according to source code
The Australian-US cybersecurity company that last year revealed the extent of TikTok’s data collection says the social media company has increased what location information it collects to include altitude, which could tell it what floor of a building a user is on.
Last year Internet 2.0 released a study on the data TikTok attempts to collect on user devices, which includes contact lists and calendars, and its scanning of hard drives and geolocating devices on an hourly basis.
Continue reading...Company accused of ‘gaslighting’ public on surveillance concerns during Senate inquiry into foreign influence through social media
TikTok will either need to divest itself from Chinese ownership or face a ban in the United States, according to the commissioner of the US federal communications commission, Brendan Carr, who accused the company of “gaslighting” the public on surveillance concerns.
Appearing before the Australian Senate inquiry into foreign influence through social media, the Trump appointee said concern about TikTok in the US was “broad and deep”, and crossed party lines.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Ethically Enhanced website sold Hubba Bubba-flavoured vapes containing cannabidiol, as owner of bubblegum brand considers legal action
A company advertising brightly packaged Hubba Bubba-flavoured cannabis vape products to Australians through sponsored TikTok posts and selling them without checking for ID or requiring a prescription is being investigated by the country’s drug regulator.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration confirmed it was investigating the content and owners of the Ethically Enhanced website, which sells vapes containing cannabidiol under the name Temple CBD Australia. A TGA spokesperson said the regulator would now “determine the most appropriate regulatory action”.
Continue reading...The Labor senator says she’s been boiling eggs wrapped in foil in the microwave for 25 years or more, ‘and I’ve never had a mishap’
Labor senator Helen Polley has raised eyebrows with an unusual technique for cooking hardboiled eggs.
In an “egg hack” video posted to TikTok, the Tasmanian senator completely wrapped a raw egg in aluminium foil, submerged it in a plastic container of water, and said she microwaved it for six to seven minutes for a hard boil.
Continue reading...Data sharing between platforms could limit effectiveness of social media app’s ban from government devices
TikTok could still access information held on Australian government devices if public servants and politicians continue to use the app on their personal mobile devices, according to a legal academic from the University of New South Wales.
Dr Katharine Kemp, who focuses on consumer law and has researched a wide variety of privacy policies for digital apps, said the loophole could limit the effectiveness of the ban on TikTok from government devices.
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Continue reading...With government concerns over national security growing, Beijing’s influence over platforms such as WeChat and Shein could come under scrutiny
As TikTok, the world’s most popular app, comes under increasing scrutiny in response to data privacy and security concerns, lawmakers in the west may soon set their sights on other Chinese platforms that have gone global.
TikTok was built by ByteDance as a foreign version of its popular domestic video-sharing platform, Douyin. But it is far from being ByteDance’s only overseas moneymaker. The Chinese company owns dozens of apps that are available overseas, many of them English-language versions of Chinese offerings.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
Former Tasmanian Liberal premier condemns party’s opposition to voice
Tasmania is the last Liberal state government left in the country and its former premier has taken to social media this morning to speak out against the federal party’s decision to oppose the voice to parliament.
Should the Liberal party maintain its opposition to the voice it will simply accelerate its increasing irrelevance.
I have asked for Cyber Security NSW to issue advice to NSW government employees, to implement this change as soon as possible.
I will no longer be using TikTok.
Continue reading...Opposition leader continues his narrative of calling the proposal a ‘divisive Canberra voice’. Follow the day’s news
Birmingham calls for end to culture wars on ‘fringe issues’
So Simon Birmigham wants the party to modernise, but keep its Liberal values. So essentially ditch the culture wars and get back to Liberal basics – small government, small business, families (although Birmingham argues for inclusive family support now).
Well, it is, in that it concerns only a relatively small numbers of people, frankly, on either side of the debate. And so having, in the lead-up to the Aston byelection, debate ensuing in the Victorian division of the Liberal party around trans rights, Nazis, all of those sorts of things that were being thrown around, was clearly very, very counterproductive.
And I think that’s acknowledged right across the leadership of the Liberal party. And so trying to make sure that, whilst there has to be space to deal with issues where international sporting organisations are making rules and laws, but we shouldn’t take that into into a realm where suddenly there are public protests supported by Liberal MPs or anything that suggests there is a sense of disrespect other than careful, thoughtful policy consideration.
Continue reading...Ban only applies to non-corporate government entities but may have flow-on effects to other agencies and businesses
The ABC is reviewing its use of TikTok following the federal government’s ban of the Chinese-owned social media app on government-issued devices.
The ban announced by the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, on Tuesday only applies to non-corporate government entities, meaning a range of government-owned businesses and agencies are not subject to the ban, including the ABC, SBS, Australia Post and NBN Co.
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