Articles about TikTok

The Trump administration has outlined a plan that would put Oracle in charge of safeguarding TikTok’s recommendation system, a senior White House official said today. The proposal is designed to ease U.S. concerns that the app could be steered by Beijing, while keeping TikTok available for the 170m people who use it in America.

The recommendation engine, which decides what videos appear in a user’s feed, sits at the center of the dispute. Often described as the app’s most important feature, its secret sauce, it is also the focus of security worries. U.S. officials argue that because it was created by ByteDance, based in Beijing, the Chinese government could influence what users see by pushing or hiding certain content without detection.

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Washington and Beijing may be moving closer to resolving the long-running dispute over TikTok. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a "framework" agreement has been reached in trade talks with China in Madrid.

This could open the door for American ownership of TikTok's US operations, with final approval expected from both leaders later this week.

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Just as with the internet in general, concerns have been voiced about the safety of social media platforms. To help address these concerns, TikTok has unveiled a series of tools and features designed to help keep users safe and informed.

There are various new options which cater to different types of user. Some are for creators, others for parents who are worried about how their offspring are using TikTok. There are also features with a broader audience, notably Well-being Missions.

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A study into harmful personal finance trends on TikTok has found that the hashtag “side hustle” is the most common trending term. #sidehustle was found attached to millions of posts on a daily basis, with many providing misleading, incorrect or costly advice.

There has long been concern about the negative impact of social media influencers, and a key area of alarm is financial guidance. A particular worry is that Gen Z is increasingly turning to social media platforms such as TikTok for financial advice, or ideas about how to make money quickly.

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President Trump has made much of wanting to ban TikTok from operating in the US. In fact, he’s talked about it so much, and -- initially, at least -- with such passion, that you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was one of his top priorities.

But having already delayed the implementation of a ban twice, Trump has now indicated that he’d be willing to do so again. And the reason for doing so is just hilarious.

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Embattled social platform TikTok has announced a new Security Checkup tool. It has been designed as a one-stop dashboard where users can check and update all of their account security settings.

The security tool is similar to those provided by the likes of Google and Meta, and it helps to promote the idea of users being proactive in ensuring account security. Importantly, there is a lot of hand-holding to eliminate the feeling of intimidation that some people may otherwise have felt about security issues such as passkeys and two-step verification.

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YouTube has announced a partnership with Repurpose.io designed to make multi-platform publishing easier than ever. An automated system makes it possible to repost TikTok content, as well as Instagram Reels, as YouTube Shorts.

The uncertain future of TikTok in the US has shaken creators who have built up substantial and lucrative followings on the Chinese-owned social platform. YouTube is eager to make the most of this uncertainty, and is clearly hoping that the new Repurpose.io partnership will help it to steal TikTok users.

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Austria-based data protection and privacy advocating NGO noyb (none of your business) has filed a series of complaints against AliExpress, SHEIN, Temu, TikTok, WeChat, and Xiaomi for violating European general data protection regulation (GDPR).

The six firms stand accused of unlawfully transferring user data to China. In its complaints, noyb says that “given that China is an authoritarian surveillance state, companies can’t realistically shield EU users’ data from access by the Chinese government”.

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Eventbrite has partnered with TikTok, integrating event promotion and ticket sales into TikTok videos. This collaboration allows TikTok users to include Eventbrite links in their videos, enabling viewers to discover event details and purchase tickets directly within the app. The feature is designed to leverage TikTok’s influence on cultural trends, providing a platform for events that capitalize on these movements.

Through this partnership, event creators can target specific TikTok communities engaged with hashtags like #BookTok, #NewMusic, and #FoodTok. This direct connection aims to enhance event visibility and attract attendees who are actively interested in these topics online, bridging their digital interests with physical event experiences.

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The latest online service to find itself facing scrutiny from the European Commission is TikTok. The Chinese-owned, video-based social media platform faces a probe from the Commission after an initial investigation into whether the company had breached the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Particular areas interest are TikTok's use of algorithms to surface content, with investigators worried about whether they create a "rabbit hole effect" and encourage addictive behavior. TikTok also faces criticisms for various failures to protect younger users, but there are concerns about the overall transparency of the platform, but especially in relation to advertising.

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Governor Greg Gianforte has signed a bill that bans TikTok in Montana, making it the first US state to do so. He says that the decision was taken in order "to protect Montanans' personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party".

A month ago, the state legislature passed a bill that requires app stores to block the service, and having been signed by Gianforte, the law will come into force next year. The law bans TikTok from operating in Montana, with daily fines of $10,000 in case of violations. TikTok is expected to fight the ban with the claim that it infringes on users' First Amendment rights.

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Since 2020, several governments and organizations have banned, or considered banning, the immensely popular social media app TikTok from their staff’s devices.

With all these alarming bells ringing, we thought it might be handy to break down what we know and see if we can plot a sensible strategy from there. So, if your hair is on fire, extinguish it and consider this with a cool head.

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While social media sites like Facebook remain popular, many people have worries about how their data is is being collected and used by the companies behind them.

Bret Cox is founder and CEO of True, a social network which doesn't monetize user information and focuses on people you really know. We talked him to find out more.

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Microsoft has revealed details of a high severity vulnerability in the TikTok app for Android. The Microsoft 365 Defender Research Team shares news of the now-fixed security flaw which the company says could have allowed an attacker to take over a victim’s account by simply getting them to click a malicious link.

With hundreds of millions of users around the world, TikTok is one of the most popular social platforms at the moment; the potential damage from the successful exploitation of such a vulnerability is huge.

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Windows 11 hasn’t been with us very long, but you’ve probably seen reports that Microsoft is already working on its successor, Windows 12.

While there aren’t any screenshots, or anything else, to view of Windows 12 just yet, we asked an AI text-to-image tool to give us its take on what the future operating system might look like.

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