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TikTok, known in
mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
and
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
as Douyin (), is a
social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
and short-form
online video platform An online video platform (OVP) enables users to upload, convert, store, and play back video content on the Internet, often via a private server structured, large-scale system that may generate revenue. Users will generally upload video content vi ...
owned by Chinese Internet company
ByteDance ByteDance Ltd. is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Haidian, Beijing, and incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Founded by Zhang Yiming, Liang Rubo, and a team of others in 2012, ByteDance developed the video-sharing ap ...
. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration from three seconds to 60 minutes. It can be accessed through a
mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...
or through its
website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...
. Since its launch, TikTok has become one of the world's most popular
social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
platforms, using recommendation algorithms to connect content creators and
influencer A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...
s with new audiences. In April 2020, TikTok surpassed two billion mobile downloads worldwide.
Cloudflare Cloudflare, Inc., is an American company that provides content delivery network services, cybersecurity, DDoS mitigation, wide area network services, reverse proxies, Domain Name Service, ICANN-accredited domain registration, and other se ...
ranked TikTok the most popular website of 2021, surpassing
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
. The popularity of TikTok has allowed viral trends in
food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...
,
fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...
, and
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
to take off and increase the platform's cultural impact worldwide. TikTok has come under scrutiny due to
data privacy Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data ...
violations, mental health concerns,
misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...
, offensive content, and its role during the
Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
. Countries have fined, banned, or attempted to restrict TikTok to protect children or out of national security concerns over possible user data collection by the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
through ByteDance.


Corporate structure

TikTok Ltd was incorporated in the
Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...
in the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
and is based in both
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
and
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. It owns four entities which are based respectively in the United States, Australia (which also runs the New Zealand business), United Kingdom (also owns subsidiaries in the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
), and Singapore (owns operations in Southeast Asia and India). Its parent company,
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
-based
ByteDance ByteDance Ltd. is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Haidian, Beijing, and incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Founded by Zhang Yiming, Liang Rubo, and a team of others in 2012, ByteDance developed the video-sharing ap ...
, is owned by founders and Chinese investors, other global investors, and employees. One of ByteDance's main domestic subsidiaries is owned by Chinese state funds and entities through a 1%
golden share In business and finance, a golden share is a type of share of stock that lets its owner outvote all other shareholders in certain circumstances. Golden shares often belong to the government when a government-owned company is undergoing the process ...
. Employees have reported that multiple overlaps exist between TikTok and ByteDance in terms of personnel management and product development. TikTok says that since 2020, its US-based CEO is responsible for making important decisions, and has downplayed its China connection.


History


Douyin

Douyin was launched on September 20, 2016, by ByteDance, originally under the name ''A.me'', before rebranding to Douyin () in December 2016. Douyin was developed in 200 days and within a year had 100 million users, with more than one billion videos viewed every day. While TikTok and Douyin share a similar
user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...
, the platforms operate separately. Douyin includes an in-video search feature that can search by people's faces for more videos of them, along with other features such as buying, booking hotels, and making geo-tagged reviews.


TikTok

ByteDance planned on Douyin expanding overseas. The founder of ByteDance,
Zhang Yiming Zhang Yiming ( zh, c=张一鸣; born 1 April 1983) is a Chinese Internet entrepreneur. He founded ByteDance in 2012, developed the news aggregator Toutiao and the video sharing platform Douyin (internationally known as TikTok). Zhang is one of ...
, stated that “China is home to only one-fifth of
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
users globally. If we don’t expand on a global scale, we are bound to lose to peers eyeing the four-fifths. So, going global is a must.” ByteDance created TikTok as an overseas version of Douyin. TikTok was launched in the international market in September 2017. On 9 November 2017, ByteDance spent nearly $1 billion to purchase Musical.ly, a startup headquartered in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
with an overseas office in
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
. Musical.ly was a social media video platform that allowed users to create short lip-sync and comedy videos, initially released in August 2014. TikTok merged with Musical.ly on 2 August 2018 with existing accounts and data consolidated into one app, keeping the title TikTok. On 23 January 2018, the TikTok app ranked first among free application downloads on
app store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...
s in
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
and other countries. TikTok has been downloaded more than 130 million times in the United States and has reached 2 billion downloads worldwide, according to data from mobile research firm Sensor Tower (those numbers exclude Android users in China). In the United States,
Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...
,
Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first docume ...
, and other celebrities began using the app in 2018. Other celebrities like
Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...
,
Jessica Alba Jessica Marie Alba ( ; born April 28, 1981) is an American actress and businesswoman. She began her acting career at age 13 in ''Camp Nowhere'', followed up by ''The Secret World of Alex Mack'' (both 1994), and rose to prominence at age 19 as ...
,
Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...
, and
Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
joined TikTok. In January 2019, TikTok allowed creators to embed merchandise sale links into their videos. On 3 September 2019, TikTok and the U.S.
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) announced a multi-year partnership. The agreement came just two days before the NFL's 100th season kick-off at
Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...
in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
where TikTok hosted activities for fans in honor of the deal. The partnership entails the launch of an official NFL TikTok account, which is to bring about new marketing opportunities such as sponsored videos and hashtag challenges. In July 2020, TikTok, excluding Douyin, reported close to 800 million monthly active users worldwide after less than four years of existence. In May 2021, TikTok appointed Shou Zi Chew as their new CEO who assumed the position from interim CEO Vanessa Pappas, following the resignation of Kevin A. Mayer on 27 August 2020. In September 2021, TikTok reported that it had reached 1 billion users. In 2021, TikTok earned $4 billion in advertising revenue. In October 2022, TikTok was reported to be planning an expansion into the
e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...
market in the US, following the launch of TikTok Shop in the United Kingdom. The company posted job listings for staff for a series of order fulfillment centers in the U.S. and is reportedly planning to start the new live shopping business before the end of the year. The ''Financial Times'' reported that TikTok will launch a video gaming channel, but the report was denied in a statement to
Digiday ''Digiday'' is an online trade magazine for online media founded in 2008 by Nick Friese. It is headquartered in New York City, with offices in London and Tokyo. Description ''Digiday'' provides daily online news about advertising, publishing, a ...
, with TikTok instead aiming to be a social hub for the gaming community. According to data from app analytics group Sensor Tower, advertising on TikTok in the U.S. grew by 11% in March 2023, with companies including
Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
,
DoorDash DoorDash, Inc. is an American company operating online food ordering and food delivery. It trades under the symbol DASH. With a 56% market share, DoorDash is the largest food delivery platform in the United States. It also has a 60% market sha ...
,
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
, and
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
among the top spenders. According to estimates from research group Insider Intelligence, TikTok is projected to generate $14.15 billion in revenue in 2023, up from $9.89 billion in 2022. In March 2024, ''The'' ''Wall Street Journal'' reported that TikTok's growth in the U.S. had stagnated. Since at least 2020, following calls to ban TikTok in the country, the
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS, ) is an inter-agency committee in the United States government that reviews the national security implications of foreign investments in the U.S. economy. CFIUS, led by the U.S ...
(CFIUS) has been investigating the company's 2017 merger with Musical.ly but has not finalized any of its negotiations with TikTok, such as the Project Texas proposal, waiting instead for
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
to act. In January 2025, Chinese officials began preliminary talks about potentially selling TikTok's U.S. operations to
Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...
if the app faced an impending ban due to national security concerns. While Beijing preferred TikTok remain under ByteDance's control, the sale could happen through a competitive process or with U.S. government involvement. One possibility involved Musk's platform, X, taking over TikTok's U.S. business. The move came ahead of a
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
case that upheld the constitutionality of a law that would force a sale or ban of TikTok in the U.S. by 19 January 2025, due to national security concerns regarding its ties to China. Other potential buyers included Project Liberty's "The People’s Bid For TikTok" consortium of billionaire real estate mogul Frank McCourt with
Shark Tank ''Shark Tank'' is an American business Reality television#Investments, reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on American Broadcasting Company, ABC.Hibberd, James (May 10, 2012)Dancing,' 'Bachelor,' and a bigger 'Shark Tank ...
investor Kevin O’Leary; former Trump
Treasury Secretary The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
Steve Mnuchin Steven Terner Mnuchin ( ; born December 21, 1962) is an American investment banker and film producer who served as the 77th United States secretary of the treasury as part of the first cabinet of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021. Serving for nearl ...
; YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) and former
Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. Activision Blizzard currently includes three operating units: Activision, Blizzard Entertainment and King (company), King. Founded in July 2 ...
CEO
Bobby Kotick Robert A. Kotick (born 1963) is an American businessman who served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Activision Blizzard and its predecessor, Activision, from 1991 to 2023. He became the CEO of Activision through a hostile takeover during ...
; the seriousness of these potential buyers was unclear. The day before the impending ban, California-based conversational search engine company Perplexity AI submitted a bid for a merger with TikTok US.


Expansion in other markets

TikTok was downloaded over 104 million times on Apple's
App Store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...
during the first half of 2018, according to data provided to
CNBC CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...
by Sensor Tower. After merging with musical.ly in August, downloads increased and TikTok became the most downloaded app in the U.S. in October 2018, which musical.ly had done once before. In February 2019, TikTok, together with Douyin, hit one billion downloads globally, excluding Android installs in China. In 2019, media outlets cited TikTok as the 7th-most-downloaded mobile app of the decade, from 2010 to 2019. It was also the most-downloaded app on Apple's App Store in 2018 and 2019, surpassing
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
,
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
and
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
. In September 2020, a deal was confirmed between ByteDance and
Oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...
in which the latter will serve as a partner to provide cloud hosting. In November 2020, TikTok signed a licensing deal with
Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
. In December 2020,
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...
signed a licensing deal with TikTok. The
advertising revenue Advertising revenue is the monetary income that individuals and businesses earn from displaying paid advertisements on their websites, social media channels, or other platforms surrounding their internet-based content. In September 2018, the U.S In ...
of short video clips is lower than other social media: while users spend more time, American audience is monetized at a rate of $0.31 per hour, a third the rate of Facebook and a fifth the rate of Instagram, $67 per year while Instagram will make more than $200. In July 2023, Iranian
Mehr News Agency The Mehr News Agency (MNA; ) is a semi-official news agency sponsored by the government of Iran. It is headquartered in Tehran, and is owned by the Iranian government's Islamic Development Organization (IIDO). Mehr publishes all content on its we ...
reported "experts from Douyin" will meet Iranian business in Tehran to enable Iranian exports to China. In 2023, several high-level executives transferred from ByteDance to TikTok to focus on moneymaking operations. Some moved from Beijing to the US. According to sources for ''The'' ''Wall Street Journal'', the personnel move led to concerns from some TikTok employees and was reported to the office of U.S. Senator
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...
for further investigation. In December 2023, TikTok invested $1.5 billion in GoTo's Indonesian e-commerce business, Tokopedia. In March 2024, '' The Information'' reported that it is an
open secret An open secret is information that was originally intended to be confidential but has at some point been disclosed and is known to many people. Open secrets are ''secrets'' in the sense that they are excluded from formal or official discourse, b ...
among investors that TikTok loses billions of dollar annually.


Competition with other platforms

Although the size of its user base falls short of that of Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, TikTok reached 1 billion active monthly users faster than any of them. Competition from TikTok prompted Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, to spend $120 million as of 2022 to entice more content creators to its Reels service, although engagement level remained low.
Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia social media and instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of the app are that pictures and messages, known as "snaps", are usually availa ...
had likewise paid out $250 million in 2021 to its creators. Many platforms and services, including
YouTube Shorts YouTube Shorts is the short-form section of the online video-sharing platform YouTube. YouTube Shorts are vertical videos that have a duration of up to 180 seconds, and has various features for user interaction. Videos were limited to 60 ...
, began to imitate TikTok's format and recommendation page. Those changes caused a backlash from users of Instagram, Spotify, and Twitter. In March 2022, ''The'' ''Washington Post'' reported that Facebook's owner
Meta Platforms Meta Platforms, Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Meta owns and operates several prominent social media platforms and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads ...
paid Targeted Victory—a consulting firm backed by supporters of the U.S. Republican Party—to coordinate lobbying and media campaigns against TikTok and portray it as "a danger to American children and society". Its efforts included asking local reporters to serve as "back channels" of anti-TikTok messages, writing opinion articles and
letters to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through conventional mai ...
, including one in the name of a concerned parent, amplifying stories about TikTok trends, such as "devious licks" and "Slap a Teacher", that actually originated on Facebook, and promoting Facebook's own corporate initiatives. Ties to Meta were not disclosed to the other parties involved. Targeted Victory said that it is "proud of the work". A Meta spokesperson said that all platforms, including TikTok, should face scrutiny. ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
executives met with U.S. lawmakers to build an "anti-China alliance" before TikTok CEO's congressional hearing in March 2023.


TikTok Notes

In April 2024, TikTok users started receiving notifications that their current and future picture posts would be shown on a new app called TikTok Notes. The app is not released yet; however, TikTok confirmed it is being worked on. TikTok Notes will be a direct competitor to
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
for photo sharing. Jasmine Enberg, a principal social media analyst at eMarketer, observes that launching Notes as a separate app, instead of as a new feature in TikTok, may be done in response to regulatory and consumer scrutiny. On 18 April, Notes first released to users in Canada and Australia for limited testing. On 1 April, it was announced that Notes would be shut down on 8 May.


Features

The mobile app allows users to create short videos, which often feature music in the background and can be sped up, slowed down, or edited with a filter. They can also add their own sound on top of the background music. To create a music video with the app, users can choose background music from a wide variety of
music genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. Genre is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometim ...
s, edit with a filter and record a 15-second video with speed adjustments before uploading it to share with others on TikTok or other social platforms. The "For You" page on TikTok is a feed of videos that are recommended to users based on their activity on the app. Content is curated by TikTok's
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
depending on the content a user liked, interacted with, or searched. This helps users find new content and creators reach new audiences, in contrast to other social networks that base recommendations on the interactions and relationships between users. TikTok's algorithm, recognized by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' in 2020 as one of the most advanced for shaping user experiences and social interactions, stands out from traditional social media. While typical platforms focus on active user actions like likes, clicks, or follows, TikTok monitors a wider array of behaviors during video viewing. This comprehensive observation is then used to refine its algorithms, as noted by ''Wired'' in 2020. Furthermore, ''The Wall Street Journal'' in 2021 highlighted its superiority over other social media platforms in understanding users' preferences and emotions. TikTok's algorithm leverages this insight to present similar content, creating an environment that users often find hard to disengage from. The app's "react" feature allows users to film their reaction to a specific video, over which it is placed in a small window that is movable around the screen. Its "duet" feature allows users to film a video aside from another video. The "duet" feature was another trademark of musical.ly. The duet feature is also only able to be used if both parties adjust the privacy settings. Videos that users do not want to post yet can be stored in their "drafts". The user is allowed to see their "drafts" and post when they find it fitting. The app allows users to set their accounts as "private". When first downloading the app, the user's account is public by default. The user can change to private in their settings. Private content remains visible to TikTok but is blocked from TikTok users who the account holder has not authorized to view their content. Users can choose whether any other user, or only their "friends", may interact with them through the app via comments, messages, or "react" or "duet" videos. Users also can set specific videos to either "public", "friends only", or "private" regardless if the account is private or not. Users may send their friends videos,
emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis; , ) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from type ...
s, and messages with direct messaging. TikTok has also included a feature to create a video based on the user's comments.
Influencer A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...
s often use the "live" feature. This feature is only available for those who have at least 1,000 followers and are over 16 years old. If over 18, the user's followers can send virtual "gifts" that can be later exchanged for money. TikTok announced a "family safety mode" in February 2020 for parents to be able to control their children's presence on the app. There is a screen time management option, restricted mode, and the option to put a limit on direct messages. The app expanded its parental controls feature called "Family Pairing" in September 2020 to provide parents and guardians with educational resources to understand what children on TikTok are exposed to. Content for the feature was created in partnership with online safety nonprofit, Internet Matters. In October 2021, TikTok launched a test feature that allows users to directly tip certain creators. Accounts of users that are of age, have at least 100,000 followers and agree to the terms can activate a "Tip" button on their profile, which allows followers to tip any amount, starting from $1. In December 2021, TikTok started beta-testing Live Studio, a streaming software that would let users broadcast applications open on their computers, including games. The software also launched with support for mobile and PC streaming. However, a few days later, users on Twitter discovered that the software uses code from the open-source OBS Studio. OBS made a statement saying that, under the
GNU GPL The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...
version 2, TikTok has to make the code of Live Studio publicly available if it wants to use any code from OBS. In May 2022, TikTok announced TikTok Pulse, an ad revenue-sharing program. It covers the "top 4% of all videos on TikTok" and is only available to creators with more than 100,000 followers. If an eligible creator's video reaches the top 4%, they will receive a 50% share of the revenue from ads displayed with the video. In July 2023, TikTok launched a new streaming service called TikTok Music, currently available only in Brazil and Indonesia. This service allows users to listen to, download and share songs. It is reported that TikTok Music features songs from major record companies like
Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...
, Sony Music and Warner Music Group. On 19 July 2023, TikTok Music was expanded for select users in Australia, Mexico and Singapore. After a dispute with TikTok regarding payouts for artists and regulation of AI-generated music content on the platform, Universal Music Group decided not to renew its licensing agreement with TikTok, causing its catalogue of 3 million recordings to become unavailable for usage after 31 January 2024. This marked the company's first instance of withdrawing its music from a major platform, in contrast to Warner Music, which had recently renewed its own licensing deal with TikTok. In March 2024,
Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a global music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. Universal Music Publishing has been ranked the #1 music publisher in market share by Billboard for multiple consecutive quart ...
removed its catalogue of 4 million compositions from TikTok. In April 2024,
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
's music returned to the platform.


Content


Viral trends

The app has spawned numerous viral trends,
Internet celebrities An Internet celebrity, also referred to as an Internet personality, is an individual who has acquired or developed their fame and notability on the Internet. The growing popularity of social media provides a means for people to reach a large ...
, and music trends around the world. Duets, a feature that allows users to add their own video to an existing video with the original content's audio, have sparked many of these trends. Many stars got their start on musical.ly, which merged with TikTok on 2 August 2018. These include
Loren Gray Loren Gray Beech (born April 19, 2002) is an American social media personality, singer, and songwriter. Gray rose to prominence in 2015 on the video sharing app, Musical.ly. In 2018, she released her debut single "My Story" under Virgin Recor ...
, Baby Ariel, Zach King, Lisa and Lena, Jacob Sartorius, and many others. Loren Gray remained the most-followed individual on TikTok until Charli D'Amelio surpassed her on 25 March 2020. Gray's was the first TikTok account to reach 40 million followers on the platform. She was surpassed with 41.3 million followers. D'Amelio was the first to ever reach 50, 60, and 70 million followers. Charli D'Amelio remained the most-followed individual on the platform until she was surpassed by Khaby Lame on 23 June 2022. Other creators rose to fame after the platform merged with musical.ly on 2 August 2018. TikTok also played a major part in making "
Old Town Road "Old Town Road" is the debut mainstream single by the American rapper and singer Lil Nas X, first released independently in December 2018. After gaining popularity, the single was re-released by Columbia Records in March 2019. He also recorded ...
" by
Lil Nas X Montero Lamar Hill (born April 9, 1999), better known by his stage name Lil Nas X ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his 2018 country rap single "Old Town Road," the longest-running nu ...
one of the biggest songs of 2019 and the longest-running number-one song in the history of the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. TikTok has allowed many music artists to gain a wider audience, often including foreign fans. For example, despite never having toured in Asia, the band Fitz and the Tantrums developed a large following in South Korea following the widespread popularity of their 2016 song "
HandClap A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), b ...
" on the platform. "Any Song" by R&B and rap artist Zico became number one on the Korean music charts due to the popularity of the #anysongchallenge, where users dance to the choreography of the song. The platform has also launched many songs that failed to garner initial commercial success into
sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...
s, particularly since the outbreak of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. However, it has received criticism for not paying royalties to artists whose music is used on the platform. Classic stars are able to connect with younger audiences born decades after a musician's first debut and across traditional genres. In 2020,
Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...
's "Dreams" was used in a skating video and a recreation by
Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and actor. He is the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of the group's bassist John Mc ...
. The song re-entered ''Billboard'' Hot 100 after 43 years and topped Apple Music. In 2022,
Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...
's "
Running Up That Hill "Running Up That Hill" (also titled "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)") is a song by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. It was released in the UK as the lead single from Bush's fifth studio album, '' Hounds of Love'', on 5 August 19 ...
" went viral among fans of ''
Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American television series created by the Duffer brothers, Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the Stranger Things season 1, first season was released on N ...
'', topping the UK singles chart 37 years after its original release. In 2023
Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...
's " Padam Padam" entered the Radio 1 playlist after being shared by Gen Z, even though many youth radio stations had refused to play it. Other older artists with strong engagement on TikTok include
Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
and
Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...
. In Japan, artists from the 1970s to 1990s, such as Kohmi Hirose, Yōko Oginome,
Akina Nakamori is a Japanese Singing, singer and Actor, actress. She is one of the most popular and List of best-selling music artists in Japan, best-selling music artists in Japan. Akina achieved national recognition after winning the 1981 season of the tal ...
, Seiko Matsuda,
Momoe Yamaguchi , known by her maiden name , is a Japanese former singer, actress, and Japanese idol, idol whose career lasted from 1972 to 1980. Often simply referred to by her given name "Momoe", Yamaguchi is one of the most successful singers in Japanese musi ...
and Saki Kubota, have become popular on TikTok during the Showa (and early Heisei) retro boom. In June 2020, TikTok users and
K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...
fans "claimed to have registered potentially hundreds of thousands of tickets" for President Trump's campaign rally in
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...
through communication on TikTok, contributing to "rows of empty seats" at the event. Later, in October 2020, an organization called ''TikTok for Biden'' was created to support then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. After the election, the organization was renamed to '' Gen-Z for Change''. On 10 August 2020, Emily Jacobssen wrote and sang "Ode to Remy", a song praising the
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...
from Pixar's 2007
computer-animated film A computer-animated film is an animated film that was created using computer software to appear three-dimensional. While traditional 2D animated films are now made primarily with the help of computers, the technique to render realistic 3D compu ...
''
Ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ; ) is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables that originated in Nice and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include tomato, garlic ...
''. The song rose to popularity when musician Daniel Mertzlufft composed a backing track to the song. In response, began creating a "crowdsourced" project called ''
Ratatouille the Musical ''Ratatouille the Musical'' (also known as ''Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical'', or ''Ratatousical'') is an Internet meme and crowdsourced musical based on the 2007 Disney/Pixar film '' Ratatouille''. TikTok user Emily Jacobsen created a short ...
''. Since Mertzlufft's video, many new elements including costume design, additional songs, and a
playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the ...
have been created. On 1 January 2021, a full one-hour virtual presentation of ''Ratatouille the Musical'' premiered on TodayTix. It starred Titus Burgess as Remy,
Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular cast member on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of the daytim ...
as Django,
Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his dynamic vocal performances that combine his theatrical training with modern and classic genres. Lambert rose to fame in 2009 after ...
as Emile, Kevin Chamberlin as Gusteau, Andrew Barth Feldman as Linguini, Ashley Park as Colette,
Priscilla Lopez Priscilla Lopez is an American singer, dancer, and actress. She is perhaps best known for originating the role of Diana Morales in ''A Chorus Line''. She has had the distinction of appearing in two Broadway landmarks: one of its greatest hits, t ...
as Mabel, Mary Testa as Skinner, and
André De Shields André Robin De Shields (born January 12, 1946) is an American actor, singer, dancer, director, and choreographer. He has received numerous accolades including an Emmy Award, Grammy Award, and Tony Award. De Shields has appeared in the original ...
as Ego. A viral TikTok trend known as " devious licks" involves students vandalizing or stealing school property and posting videos of the action on the platform. The trend has led to increasing school vandalism and subsequent measures taken by some schools to prevent damage. Some students have been arrested for participating in the trend. TikTok has taken measures to remove and prevent access to content displaying the trend. Another TikTok trend known as the Kia Challenge involves users stealing certain models of Kia and
Hyundai Hyundai is a former South Korean industrial conglomerate ("''chaebol''"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Asan, a real estate construction ...
cars manufactured without
immobilizer An immobiliser or immobilizer is an electronic security device fitted to a motor vehicle that prevents the engine from being started unless the correct key (transponder or smart key) is present. This prevents the vehicle from being " hot wir ...
s, which was a standard feature at the time, between 2010 and 2021. As of February 2023, it had resulted in at least 14 crashes and eight deaths according to the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on automobile safety regulations. NHTSA is charged with writing and enforcing Feder ...
. In May, Kia and Hyundai settled a $200-million class-action lawsuit by agreeing to provide software updates to affected vehicles and over 26,000 steering wheel locks. In 2023, a trend emerged where streamers acted as if they were video-game characters following prompts from their viewers. On Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, some celebrities who had garnered large followings as of August 2019 include Dilraba Dilmurat, Angelababy, Luo Zhixiang, Ouyang Nana, and Pan Changjiang. In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, a Qatari teenage royal became an Internet celebrity after his angry expressions were recorded in Qatar's opening match loss to Ecuador; he amassed more than 15 million followers in less than a week after creating a Douyin account.


Food and recipes


Fashion and body size

"Midsize" fashion gained greater exposure on TikTok after many creators opened up about not able to find clothing sizes that fit them well. Women's apparel can roughly be divided into petite, straight, and plus sizes, leaving gaps in between. Realistic videos about how differently pieces of garment fit on a model compared to how they fit on a typical consumer resonated with many who had believed that they were alone in their struggle.


Cosmetic surgery

Content promoting cosmetic surgery is popular on TikTok and has spawned several viral trends on the platform. In December 2021, ''Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery'', the journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, published an article about the popularity of some plastic surgeons on TikTok. In the article, it was noted that plastic surgeons were some of the earliest adopters of social media in the medical field and many had been recognized as
influencer A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...
s on the platform. The article published stats about the most popular plastic surgeons on TikTok up to February 2021 and at the time, five different plastic surgeons had surpassed 1 million followers on the platform. In 2021, it was reported that a trend known as the #NoseJobCheck trend was going viral on TikTok. TikTok content creators used a specific audio on their videos while showing how their noses looked before and after having their rhinoplasty surgeries. By January 2021, the hashtag #nosejob had accumulated 1.6 billion views, #nosejobcheck had accumulated 1 billion views, and the audio used in the #NoseJobCheck trend had been used in 120,000 videos. In 2020, Charli D'Amelio, the most-followed person on TikTok at the time, also made a #NoseJobCheck video to show the results of her surgery to repair a broken nose. In April 2022, NBC News reported that surgeons were giving influencers on the platform discounted or free cosmetic surgeries in order to advertise the procedures to their audiences. They also reported that facilities that offered these surgeries were also posting about them on TikTok. TikTok has banned the advertising of cosmetic surgeries on the platform but cosmetic surgeons are still able to reach large audiences using unpaid photo and video posts. NBC reported that videos using the hashtags '#plasticsurgery' and '#lipfiller' had amassed a combined 26 billion views on the platform. In December 2022, it was reported that a Plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery procedure known as buccal fat removal was going viral on the platform. The procedure involves surgically removing fat from the cheeks in order to give the face a slimmer and more chiseled appearance. Videos using hashtags related to buccal fat removal had collectively amassed over 180 million views. Some TikTok users criticized the trend for promoting an unobtainable beauty standard.


Film criticism

A significant number of users on TikTok, such as Straw Hat Goofy, Juju Green, create content surrounding Film criticism and Easter egg (media), Easter eggs. However, as reported by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', these people often do not see themselves necessarily as film critics. These creators would often attend red carpet premieres of movies and interview the celebrities in attendance, which was the subject of significant debate as some considered the questions the creators asked to be disrespectful. By 2022, TikTok released a Showbiz List, highlighting individuals who were having a larger impact on the film industry. During the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, such influencers were told that they would be denied future entry into the union if they partnered with struck studios. This led many creators to stop creating new content which they were not already contractually obligated to create. Creators who posted saying that they would not be changing their content, such as Green, were met with significant criticism.


STEM feed

In March 2023, TikTok introduced a dedicated feed for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content. It works with Common Sense Networks to check for safety and age appropriateness and with the Poynter Institute for reliability of information.


Heating

In January 2023, ''Forbes'' reported that a "heating" tool allows TikTok to manually promote certain videos, comprising 1–2% of daily views. The practice began as a way to grow and diversify content and influencers that were not automatically picked up by the recommendation algorithm. It was also used to promote brands, artists, and NGOs, such as the FIFA World Cup and Taylor Swift. However, some employees have abused it to promote their own accounts or those of their spouses, while others have felt that their guidelines leave too much room for discretion. TikTok said only a few individuals can approve heating in the U.S. and the promoted videos take up less than 0.002% of user feeds. To address concerns of Chinese influence, the company is negotiating with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) such that future heating could only be performed by vetted security personnel in the U.S. and the process would be audited by third-parties such as Oracle.


Censorship and moderation

TikTok's and Douyin's censorship policies have been criticized as non-transparent. Internal guidelines against the promotion of violence, separatism, and "demonization of countries" could be used to prohibit content related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, Falun Gong, human rights in Tibet, Taiwan, Chechnya, Northern Ireland, the Cambodian genocide, the May 1998 riots of Indonesia, 1998 Indonesian riots, Kurdish nationalism, ethnic conflicts between blacks and whites, or between different Islamic sects. A more specific list banned criticisms against world leaders, including past and present ones from Russia, the United States, Japan, North and South Korea, India, Indonesia, and Turkey. In 2019, ''The Guardian'' reported that TikTok had censored videos of topics not favored by the Chinese government. That year, TikTok took down a video about Persecution of Uyghurs in China, human rights abuses in the Xinjiang internment camps against Uyghurs but restored it after 50 minutes as well as the creator's account, saying that the action was a mistake and triggered by a brief "satirical" image of Osama bin Laden in another post. Other human rights activists have also said that their TikTok videos discussing human rights violations of the Uyghurs have been taken down. TikTok moderators were instructed to suppress posts from "For You" recommendations if the users shown were deemed "too ugly, poor, or disabled". The consumption of alcohol, full or partial nudity, LGBT community, LGBT, and intersex contents were restricted even in places where they are legal. TikTok has since apologized and instituted a ban against anti-LGBTQ ideology, but censorship continues on Douyin due to regulations in China. Douyin guidelines also forbid live broadcasting by unregistered foreigners, "feudal superstition", "money worship", smoking and drinking, competitive eating by the "already obese", "toxic" slime (toy)#Toxicity scare, slime, "pornographic" ASMR such as ear-licking, and female anchors wearing revealing clothes. ByteDance said its early guidelines were global and aimed at reducing online harassment and divisiveness when its platforms were still growing. They have been replaced by versions customized by local teams for users in different regions. A March 2021 study by the Citizen Lab found that TikTok did not censor searches politically but was inconclusive about whether posts are. A 2023 paper by the Internet Governance Project at Georgia Institute of Technology concluded that TikTok is "not exporting censorship, either directly by blocking material, or indirectly via its recommendation algorithm." After increased scrutiny, TikTok said it is granting some outside experts access to the platform's anonymized data sets and protocols, including filters, keywords, criteria for heating, and source code. A December 2023 study by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) found a "strong possibility that content on TikTok is either amplified or suppressed based on its alignment with the interests of the Chinese government." According to its director, the NCRI is an independent non-profit research organization funded by Rutgers University, the British government, and private donors. ''The New York Times'' commented that "[a]lready, there is evidence that China uses TikTok as a propaganda tool. Posts related to subjects that the Chinese government wants to suppress — like Hong Kong protests and Tibet — are strangely missing from the platform." TikTok subsequently restricted the number of hashtags that can be searched under its Creative Center, saying it was "misused to draw inaccurate conclusions". A historian from the Cato Institute said that there were "basic errors" in the Rutgers University study and criticized the uncritical news coverage that followed. The study compares data from before TikTok even existed to show the app has fewer hashtags about historically sensitive topics, distorting the findings. In August 2024, the NCRI released a subsequent report based on user journey data from 24 accounts that they created across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. By searching for four keywords—Uyghur, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Tiananmen, the researchers found that TikTok returned a higher percentage of positive, neutral, or irrelevant content related to human rights in China. For example, more than 25% of results for "Tiananmen" on TikTok were considered pro-China by the researchers, compared to 16% on Instagram and 8% on YouTube. In other cases, however, Instagram and YouTube showed higher rates of pro-China content than TikTok. For example, 50% of searches about "Uyghur" and "Xinjiang" on YouTube were considered positive, compared to less than 25% on TikTok. The researchers said this is because some YouTube accounts are linked to state actors. According to their survey, people who use TikTok more than three hours daily are significantly more positive about China's human rights record compared to those who do not use the app. TikTok pushed back against the NCRI, saying that making "accounts that interact with the app in a prescribed manner" is not the same as the experience of real users and some of the events being compared happened before TikTok existed.


Extremism and hate

Concerns have been voiced regarding content relating to, and the promotion and spreading of, hate speech and far-right extremism, such as antisemitism, islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia. Some videos were shown to expressly promote Holocaust denial and told viewers to take up arms and fight in the name of white supremacy and the swastika. As TikTok has gained popularity among young children, and the popularity of extremist and hateful content is growing, calls for tighter restrictions on their flexible boundaries have been made. TikTok has since released tougher parental controls to filter out inappropriate content and to ensure they can provide sufficient protection and security. In October 2019, TikTok removed about two dozen accounts that were responsible for posting Use of social media by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL propaganda and execution videos on the app. In Malaysia, TikTok is used by some users to engage in hate speech against race and religion especially mentioning the 13 May incident after the 2022 Malaysian general election, 2022 election. TikTok responded by taking down videos with content that violated their community guidelines. In March 2023, ''The Jewish Chronicle'' reported that TikTok still hosted videos that promoted the neo-Nazi propaganda film ''Europa: The Last Battle'', despite having been alerted to the issue four months prior. TikTok said it removed and would continue to remove the content and associated accounts and has blocked the search term as well. In July 2024, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue reported that an organized neo-Nazi TikTok network promoting neo-Nazi propaganda, including ''Europa: The Last Battle'', was receiving millions of views and was having its content promoted by TikTok's algorithm. In September 2024, Sky News reported that clips of Adolf Hitler's speeches with added music were attracting high levels of engagement on TikTok. Although they were removed by TikTok after the report, mixing audio remains an effective way to evade content moderation on many platforms.


Graphic content

In June 2021, TikTok made an apology after a shock video, showing a girl dancing which then cuts to a graphic scene of a man being beheaded by a saw, went viral. The video has now been sent to TikTok's blacklist, which automatically detects it before being uploaded. TikTok has previously worked to remove graphic content from its platform, including the suicide video that was circulating in September 2020, which had appeared within the recommended clips of TikTok's For You section.


Misinformation

TikTok has banned Holocaust denial, but other conspiracy theories have become popular on the platform, such as Pizzagate and QAnon (two conspiracy theories popular among the U.S. alt-right) whose hashtags reached almost 80 million views and 50 million views respectively by June 2020. The platform has also been used to spread misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, such as clips from ''Plandemic''. TikTok removed some of these videos and has generally added links to accurate COVID-19 information on videos with tags related to the pandemic. In January 2020, left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters for America said that TikTok hosted misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic despite a recent policy against misinformation. In April 2020, the government of India asked TikTok to remove users posting misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were also multiple conspiracy theories that the government is involved with the spread of the pandemic. It reported that in the second half of 2020, over 340,000 videos in the U.S. about election misinformation and 50,000 videos of COVID-19 misinformation were removed. To combat misinformation in the 2022 midterm election in the US, TikTok announced a midterms Elections Center available in-app to users in 40 different languages. TikTok partnered with the National Association of Secretaries of State to give accurate local information to users. In September 2022, NewsGuard Technologies reported that among the TikTok searches it had conducted and analyzed from the U.S., 19.4% surfaced misinformation such as questionable or harmful content about COVID-19 vaccines, homemade remedies, the 2020 United States elections#Public perceptions and analysis, 2020 U.S. elections, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Robb Elementary School shooting, and abortion. NewsGuard suggested that in contrast, results from Google were of higher quality. Mashable's own test from Australia found innocuous results after searching for "getting my COVID vaccine" but suggestions such as "climate change is a myth" after typing in "climate change". In November 2023, Singaporean Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam applied for court orders requiring TikTok to provide information on the identity of three users that he accuses of spreading false and defamatory information about him. The users had shared on TikTok an article published by celebscritic.com alleging that K. Shanmugam was involved in an extra-marital affair.


Russian invasion of Ukraine

As of 2022, TikTok is the 10th most popular app in Russia. After a new set of Russian 2022 war censorship laws, Russian war censorship laws was installed in March 2022, the company announced a series of restrictions on Russian and non-Russian posts and livestreams. ''Tracking Exposed'', a user data rights group, learned of what was likely a technical glitch that became exploited by pro-Russia posters. It stated that although this and other loopholes were patched by TikTok before the end of March, the initial failure to correctly implement the restrictions, in addition to the effects from Kremlin's "fake news" laws, contributed to the formation of a "splInternet ... dominated by pro-war content" in Russia. TikTok said that it had removed 204 accounts for swaying public opinion about the war while obscuring their origins and that its fact checkers had removed 41,191 videos for violating its misinformation policies. In December 2023, BBC News reported that it had discovered nearly 800 fake TikTok accounts promoting Russian propaganda and disinformation. TikTok's own investigation found more than 12,000 fake accounts, including ones using additional languages such as English and Italian. In September 2024, TikTok removed the accounts of Russian state media outlets RT (TV network), RT and Sputnik (news agency), Sputnik.


Feminism

The growth of popularity and access to TikTok has contributed to a growth in popularity of Networked feminism, digital feminist movements and discourse originating from the platform. Digital spaces like TikTok enable marginalized communities and activists, such as feminists, to feel safer and have an easier place to engage in discussion and dialogue or build an identity which might otherwise be impossible due to circumstances. The momentum of digital feminist movements through platforms like TikTok have additionally encouraged many social media agents and marketing campaigns around the world to adopt some degree of feminism as a part of their online image or personal brand. TikTok's unique platform organization, of spontaneous peer-peer information sharing, has enabled its utilization for community-engaged, digital knowledge mobilization and exchange between social justice communities. However inversely enabled by the platform's organic potential, both feminist challenges and anti-feminist reinforcement of dominant social, hierarchical, and gender values are widespread and instigated through TikTok, and content labeled as anti-feminist is itself popularized on TikTok.


Usage


Demographics

TikTok tends to appeal to younger users, as 41% of its users are between the ages of 16 and 24. , these individuals are considered Generation Z. Among these TikTok users, 90% said they used the app daily. TikTok's geographical use in 2019 has shown that 43% of new users were from India before the social platform was banned in the country. But adults have also seen growth on TikTok. The share of U.S. adults who regularly get news from TikTok hit 14% in 2023. By July 2023, TikTok has become the primary news source for British teenagers on social media, with 28% of 12 to 15-year-olds relying on the platform, while traditional sources like BBC One/BBC Two, Two are more trusted at 82%, according to a report by UK regulator Ofcom. As of the first quarter of 2022, there were over 100 million monthly active users in the United States and 23 million in the UK. The average user, daily, was spending 1 hour and 25 minutes on the app and opening TikTok 17 times. Out of TikTok's top 100 male creators, a 2022 analysis reported 67% were white, with 54% having near-perfect facial symmetry.


Teenage mode

China heavily regulates how Douyin is used by minors in the country, especially after 2018. Under government pressure, ByteDance introduced parental controls and a "teenage mode" that shows only whitelisted content, such as knowledge sharing, and bans pranks, superstition, dance clubs, and pro-LGBT content. A mandatory screen time limit was put in place for users under the age of 14 and a requirement to link accounts to a real identity to prevent minors from lying about their age or using an adult's account. The differences between Douyin and TikTok have led some U.S. politicians and commentators to accuse the company or the Chinese government of malicious intent. In March 2023, TikTok announced default screen time limits for users under the age of 18. Those under the age of 13 would need a passcode from their parents to extend their time.


Underage users

As with other platforms popular with children, underage users may inadvertently reveal their daily routine and whereabouts, raising concerns of potential misuse by sexual predators. At the time of reporting (2018), TikTok had only two privacy settings, either private or completely public, without any middle ground. Comment sections of "sexy" videos, such as young girls dancing in revealing clothes, were found to contain requests for nude pictures. TikTok itself forbids direct messaging of videos and photos, which meant follow-up interactions, if any, would have to take place in some other form. In recent years, the U.S. has charged and sentenced sexual predators for illegal activities on TikTok against underage girls. On 22 January 2021, the Italian Data Protection Authority demanded that TikTok temporarily suspend Italian users whose age could not be established. The order came after the death of a 10-year-old Sicilian girl involved in an Internet challenge. TikTok asked its users in Italy to confirm again that they were over 13 years old. By May, over 500,000 accounts had been removed for failing the age check. In July 2021, the Dutch Data Protection Authority fined TikTok €750,000 for offering privacy statements only in English but not in Dutch. It noted that TikTok had implemented positive measures, such as forbidding direct messaging for users younger than 16 and allowing their parents to manage privacy settings directly through a paired family account, but the risk of children pretending to be older when creating their account remains. TikTok raised the minimum age for livestreaming from 16 to 18 after a BBC News investigation found hundreds of accounts going live from Syrian refugee camps. Thirty of them showed children begging for digital donation. TikTok reportedly made as much as a 70% commission on some of them, a figure that the company disputed. In March 2024, the Italian Competition Authority fined TikTok €10 million for not protecting underage users adequately from harmful content such as the "French scar" challenge, which left heavy pinch marks on a person's cheeks. On December 30, 2024, Venezuela's Supreme Court fined TikTok $10 million over viral challenges that authorities say led to the deaths of three children. The court cited TikTok's negligence in failing to implement "necessary and adequate measures" to prevent the viral video challenges.


Influencer marketing

TikTok has provided a platform for users to create content not only for fun but also for money. As the platform has grown significantly over the past few years, it has allowed companies to advertise and rapidly reach their intended demographic through influencer marketing. The platform's algorithm also contributes to the influencer marketing potential, as it picks out content according to the user's preference. Sponsored content is not as prevalent on the platform as it is on other social media apps, but brands and influencers still can make as much as they would if not more in comparison to other platforms. Influencers on the platform who earn money through engagement, such as likes and comments, are referred to as "meme machines". In 2021, ''The New York Times'' reported that viral TikTok videos by young people relating the emotional impact of books on them, tagged with the label "BookTok", significantly drove sales of literature. Publishers were increasingly using the platform as a venue for influencer marketing. In December 2022, NBC News reported in a television segment that some TikTok and YouTube influencers were being given free and discounted cosmetic surgeries in order for them to advertise the surgeries to users of the platforms. In 2022, it was reported that a trend called "de-influencing" had become popular on the platform as a backlash to influencer marketing. TikTok creators participating in this trend made videos criticizing products promoted by influencers and asked their audiences not to buy products they did not need. However, some creators participating in the trend started promoting alternative products to their audiences and earning commission from sales made through their affiliate marketing, affiliate links in the same manner as the influencers they were originally criticizing. In June 2022, ''NBC News'' reported that some of the influencers paid by ''FeetFinder'', a website that sells foot fetish content, did not disclose their videos were ads. FeetFinder said that it has suggested to influencers to be upfront about who was funding them. Existing sellers on FeetFinder said that the videos often misrepresented how "easy" it is to make money from posting feet pictures. Other TikTok creators have spoken out against accepting sponsorship deals indiscriminately and criticized those who posted undisclosed FeetFinder ads.


Businesses

In October 2020, the e-commerce platform Shopify added TikTok to its portfolio of social media platforms, allowing online merchants to sell their products directly to consumers on TikTok. Some small businesses have used TikTok to advertise and to reach an audience wider than the geographical region they would normally serve. The viral response to many small business TikTok videos has been attributed to TikTok's algorithm, which shows content that viewers at large are drawn to, but which they are unlikely to actively search for (such as videos on unconventional types of businesses, like beekeeping and logging). In 2020, digital media companies such as Group Nine Media and Global Media & Entertainment, Global used TikTok increasingly, focusing on tactics such as brokering partnerships with TikTok influencers and developing branded content campaigns. Notable collaborations between larger brands and top TikTok influencers have included Chipotle Mexican Grill, Chipotle's partnership with David Dobrik in May 2019 and Dunkin' Donuts' partnership with Charli D'Amelio in September 2020.


Sex workers

TikTok is regularly used by sex workers to promote pornographic content sold on platforms such as OnlyFans. One porn actor posted a viral song referring to himself as an "accountant", starting a trend. In 2020, TikTok updated their terms of service to ban content that promotes "premium sexual content", impacting a large number of adult content creators. In response, they began substituting words in their captions and videos and using filters to censor explicit images. Some adult content creators have found a way to game TikTok's recommendation algorithm by posting riddles, attracting a large number of viewers that struggled to solve them. This increased potential Web traffic linked to the riddle posters' accounts on OnlyFans.


Political

The Israeli Defense Force actively recruits Internet celebrity, influencers on TikTok and other social media platforms. In 2021 the IDF awarded a TikTokker who was one of its military police officers for promoting Israel. She had more followers than the IDF spokesperson or the prime minister. Since 2021, TikTok has created "election centres" on its platform leading up to European Parliament elections. About 30% of EP lawmakers use TikTok to get their messages across and to dispel misinformation. In February 2024, the Joe Biden 2024 presidential campaign, re-election campaign for U.S. President Joe Biden announced that it had opened a TikTok account while taking "advanced safety precautions". Biden posted his first video during Super Bowl LVIII. The move was criticized by a number of lawmakers over security concerns. Since 2022, the Biden administration has been briefing TikTokers on news items such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and student debt relief in America.


Charities

Many charities use TikTok for fundraising and education, especially with younger audiences, charities using TikTok include; Oregon Zoo, Shelter (charity), Shelter, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, British Red Cross, American Heart Association, United Way, Catskill Animal Sanctuary and the Black Country Living Museum. Some TikTok influencers run their own events to raise money for charitable causes e.g. Mercury Stardust runs the TikTok-A-Thon for Trans Healthcare. 'TikTok For Good' was created by TikTok to support fundraising on the platform. In 2019, TikTok announced the #EduTok Mentorship program, a live master class, workshop series in the Indian states of Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Jammu inspired by the hashtag #EduTok, in which video creators present factually for purposes of education. In 2022 TikTok banned fundraising for political accounts.


Privacy and security concerns

Digital privacy, Privacy concerns have been brought up regarding the app. TikTok's privacy policy lists that the app collects usage information, IP addresses, a user's mobile carrier, Organizationally unique identifier, unique device identifiers, Keystroke dynamics, keystroke patterns, and location data, among other data. Other information collected includes users inferred interests based on the content they view as well as content created by users. TikTok can share data with its corporate group, including ByteDance. The company says that it employs access control and approval process overseen by a U.S.-based team. In June 2021, TikTok updated its privacy policy to include potential collection of biometric data, including "faceprints and voiceprints", for special effects and other purposes. The terms said that user authorization would be requested if local law demands such. Experts considered them to be "vague" and their implications "problematic" for the United States due to the country's general lack of robust data privacy laws. In a November 2022 update to its European privacy policy, TikTok stated that its global corporate group employees from China and other countries could gain remote access to the user information of accounts from Europe based on "demonstrated need". A March 2021 study by the Citizen Lab found that TikTok did not collect data beyond the industry norms, what its policy stated, or without additional user permission. In May 2023, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that former employees complained about TikTok tracking users who had viewed LGBT-related content. The company said its algorithm tracks interests not identity, and non-LGBT users also view such content.


Potential data collection by the Chinese government

Concerns have been raised about the potential control and influence of the Chinese government over TikTok's owner, ByteDance, in particular the extraterritorial jurisdiction, extraterritorial implications of China's 2017 National Intelligence Law. An article in the law insists that all organizations and citizens shall "support, assist and cooperate with national intelligence efforts." Analysts differ in their assessments of the data collection risks. James Andrew Lewis, Jim Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said TikTok would have no right to appeal requests for data made by the Chinese government. Some cybersecurity experts say individual users are not at risk. The United States has not offered any evidence of TikTok sharing such information with Chinese authorities. Keeping user data within the United States became the motivation behind TikTok's Project Texas.


Access from China and United States response

In October 2021, following the 2021 Facebook leak and controversies about social media ethics, a bipartisan group of United States lawmakers also pressed TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat on questions of data privacy and moderation for age-appropriate content. Lawmakers also "hammered" TikTok about whether consumer data could be turned over to the Chinese government through ByteDance, its parent company in China. TikTok said it does not give information to China's government and "U.S. user data" is stored within the country with backups in Singapore. In June 2022, ''BuzzFeed News'' reported that leaked audio recordings of internal TikTok meetings reveal employees in China had access to overseas data, including a "master admin" who could see "everything". Some of the recordings were made during consultations with Booz Allen Hamilton, a U.S. government contractor. A spokesperson of the contractor said some of the report's information was inaccurate but would neither confirm nor deny whether TikTok was one of its clients. As a consequence, the Senate Intelligence Committee including U.S. lawmakers Mark Warner and Marco Rubio called for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate ByteDance and whether TikTok had misled them. Following the reports, TikTok confirmed that employees in China could have access to U.S. data. It also announced that U.S. user traffic would now be routed through Oracle Cloud and that backup copies would be deleted from other servers. In June 2022, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr (lawyer), Brendan Carr called for Google and Apple to remove TikTok from their app stores, saying sensitive data were being accessed from Beijing and ByteDance would be "required by law to comply with [Chinese government] surveillance demands." In November 2022, Christopher A. Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said the Chinese government could use TikTok for influence operations on its users. In May 2023, a former ByteDance employee filed a wrongful termination lawsuit alleging that Hong Kong users' device information and communications, particularly those of demonstrators in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, were accessed by Chinese Communist Party members in 2018. ByteDance denied the claims, saying the employee worked on a defunct project and that TikTok was pulled out of Hong Kong in 2020. The whistleblower claimed in a sworn court statement that his father in
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had been detained by the authorities in retaliation for his speaking to the media about alleged censorship by TikTok. In June 2023, TikTok confirmed that some financial information, such as tax forms and Social Security numbers, of American content creators are stored in China. This applies to those signing contracts with and receiving payment transactions from ByteDance. Whether similar information will remain exempt from being treated as "protected user data" is being negotiated with Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). A 2024 unclassified threat assessment by the Director of National Intelligence said "TikTok accounts run by a [Chinese] propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates" during the 2022 United States elections. In April 2024, it was discovered that former employee Zen Goziker—allegedly the source of various leaks about TikTok to ''The Washington Post'', ''Forbes'', and ''Buzzfeed News''—had made improbable claims. He has also spoken with law enforcement agencies and lawmakers hostile to TikTok. He has accused not only his former employer but also the United States Attorney General, Attorney General, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of Homeland Security for getting him fired.


Project Texas

In response to security concerns of the United States government, TikTok has been working to silo privileged user data within the United States under oversight from the U.S. government or a third party such as Oracle. Named Project Texas, the initiative focuses on unauthorized access, state influence, and software security. A new subsidiary, TikTok U.S. Data Security Inc. (USDS), was created to manage user data, software code, back-end systems, and content moderation. It would report to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), not ByteDance or TikTok, even for hiring practices. Oracle would review and spot check the data flows through USDS. It would also digitally sign software code, approve updates, and oversee content moderation and recommendation. Physical locations would be established so that Oracle and the U.S. government could conduct their own reviews. The company has been engaged in confidential negotiations over the project with CFIUS since 2021 and submitted its proposal but received little response from the panel afterward. In March 2023, a former employee of the company said Project Texas did not go far enough and that a complete "re-engineering" would be needed. TikTok responded by saying that Project Texas already is a re-engineering of the app and that the former employee left in 2022 before the project specifications were finalized. Other former employees had their own takes on the situation. A data scientist said U.S. user data were emailed to ByteDance workers in China to identify viewer interests. A manager recounted that there was a lot more separation on the technical side between TikTok and ByteDance by the time he left. Another said TikTok had to employ better data collection practices than Meta Platforms, Meta or Google due to the scrutiny it received.


Project Clover

TikTok has faced criticism for transferring European user data to servers in the United States. It is holding discussions with UK's National Cyber Security Centre (United Kingdom), National Cyber Security Centre about a "Project Clover" for storing European information locally. The company plans to build two data centers in Ireland and one more in Norway. A third party will oversee the cybersecurity policies, data flows, and personnel access independently of TikTok.


Journalist spying scandal

In October 2022, ''Forbes'' reported that a team at ByteDance planned to surveil certain U.S. citizens for undisclosed reasons. TikTok said that the tracking method suggested by the report would not be feasible because precise GPS information is not collected by the platform. In December 2022, ByteDance confirmed after internal investigation that the data of two journalists and their close contacts had been accessed by its employees from China and the United States. It was intended to uncover sources of leaks who might have met with the journalists from ''Forbes'' and the ''Financial Times''. The data included IP addresses, which can be used to approximate a user's location. ByteDance stated that it fired four employees in response. The incident is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia reportedly subpoenaed information from ByteDance regarding its surveillance of journalists on TikTok. In December 2023, the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party inquired the FBI about the status of the case.


Software code

In January 2020, Check Point, Check Point Research discovered a vulnerability (computing), vulnerability through which a hacker could spoofing attack, spoof TikTok's official SMS messages and replace them with malicious links to gain access to user accounts. It was later patch (computing), patched by TikTok. In August 2020, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that TikTok tracked Android user data, including MAC addresses and IMEIs, with a tactic in violation of Google's policies. In August 2022, software engineer and security researcher Felix Krause found that in-app browsers from TikTok and other platforms contained computer program, codes for keylogger functionality but did not have the means to further investigate whether any data was tracked or recorded. TikTok said that the code is disabled.


Regulatory actions


U.S. Federal Trade Commission

On 27 February 2019, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a consent decree with ByteDance, fining it U.S.$5.7 million for collecting information from minors under the age of 13 in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). ByteDance responded by adding a kids-only mode to TikTok which blocks the upload of videos, the building of user profiles, direct messaging, and commenting on others' videos, while still allowing the viewing and recording of content. In May 2020, an advocacy group filed a complaint with the FTC saying that TikTok had violated the terms of the February 2019 consent decree with the FTC, which sparked subsequent congressional calls for a renewed FTC investigation. In March 2022, following a class action lawsuit for violations of COPPA, TikTok settled for US$1.1 million. In March 2024, it was reported that the FTC continues to investigate TikTok. In August 2024, the FTC and U.S. Department of Justice filed a joint lawsuit alleging violations of the 2019 consent decree.


Data Protection Commission (Europe)

In September 2021, the Ireland Data Protection Commission (DPC) launched investigations into TikTok concerning the protection of minors' data and transfers of personal data to China. The Irish DPC became the lead agency to handle such matters after TikTok established an office in the country, taking over investigations started by Dutch and Italian authorities. In September 2023, the DPC fined TikTok €345 million for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) vis-à-vis the mishandling of children data. In April 2025, the Ireland DPC fined TikTok over €500 million for illegally sending European user data to China.


UK Information Commissioner's Office

In February 2019, the United Kingdom's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) launched an investigation of TikTok following the fine ByteDance received from the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Speaking to a parliamentary committee, Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said that the investigation focuses on the issues of private data collection, the kind of videos collected and shared by children online, as well as the platform's open messaging system which allows any adult to message any child. She noted that the company was potentially violating the GDPR which requires the company to provide different services and different protections for children. In April 2023, the ICO imposed a £12.7 million fine on TikTok for misusing children's data. In March 2025, the ICO opened another investigation into TikTok concerning its use of children's personal information to recommend content to them.


Pending investigations


Texas

In February 2022, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton initiated an investigation into TikTok for alleged violations of children's privacy and facilitation of human trafficking. Paxton claimed that the Texas Department of Public Safety gathered several pieces of content showing the attempted recruitment of teenagers to smuggle people or goods across the Mexico–United States border. He claimed the evidence may prove the company's involvement in "human smuggling, sex trafficking and drug trafficking". The company claimed that no illegal activity of any kind is supported on the platform.


Turkey

In 2022, Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board (Turkey), Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) initiated a probe into TikTok in relation to millions of dollars in fund transfers involving TikTok accounts that were suspected of money laundering or terrorism financing.


Privacy Commissioner of Canada

In February 2023, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, along with its counterparts in Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec, launched an investigation into TikTok's data collection practices.


European Commission

In February 2024, the European Commission launched an investigation into TikTok for potential violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA), involving content aiming at children and advertising transparency. In April 2024, the European Commission opened a second investigation into TikTok to assess whether it broke EU law. In October 2024, the European Commission requested additional information from TikTok relating to its algorithm and risks around elections, mental health, and protection of minors. In December 2024, the European Commission announced an investigation into TikTok over accusations of Russian interference in the 2024 Romanian presidential election. In May 2025, the European Commission found TikTok had violated digital advertising rules under the DSA.


Australian Information Commissioner inquiry

In December 2023, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner announced an inquiry into TikTok's data harvesting of Australian citizens amid allegations that it contravened Australian privacy law.


Controversies


Cyberbullying

''Vox (website), Vox'' noted in 2018 that bullies and trolls were relatively rare on TikTok compared to other platforms. Nonetheless, several users have reported cyberbullying via features such as Duet or React, which is used to interact with followers. A trend making fun of autism eventually created a huge backlash, even on the platform itself, and the company ended up removing the hashtag altogether. Parents filming how their children reacted to people with disability, often in terror, led to criticisms of ableism. In December 2019, following a report by German digital rights group netzpolitik.org, TikTok admitted that it had suppressed videos by disabled users as well as LGBTQ+ users in a purported temporary effort to limit cyberbullying.


Addiction and mental health

There are concerns that some users may find it hard to stop using TikTok. Internal TikTok research has documented the addiction potential of the app. In April 2018, an addiction-reduction feature was added to Douyin. This encouraged users to take a break every 90 minutes. Later in 2018, the feature was rolled out to the TikTok app. TikTok uses popular influencers to encourage viewers to stop using the app and take a break. Many were also concerned with the app affecting users' attention spans due to the short-form nature of the content. This is a concern as many of TikTok's audience are younger children, whose brains are still developing. TikTok executives and representatives have noted and made aware to advertisers on the platform that users have poor attention spans. The company's survey reported that nearly 50% of social media users find it stressful to watch a video longer than a minute and a third of users watch videos at double speed. Their short attention spans posed a challenge for TikTok to pivot towards longer content formats. TikTok has also received criticism for enabling children to purchase coins which they can send to other users. Daily hours of entertainment screen media (Social Medias) may displace healthy behaviors such as socializing face to face, chores, hobbies, homework, family meals time, exercise, and sufficient sleep. Insomnia is considered a strong mediator between screen media time and mental health symptoms which implies that engaging in screen time pushes out adequate sleep and leads to decreased mental health. In February 2022, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that "Mental health professional, Mental-health professionals around the country are growing increasingly concerned about the effects on teen girls of posting sexualized TikTok videos." In March 2022, a coalition of U.S. state attorneys general launched an investigation into TikTok's effect on children's mental health. In June 2022, TikTok introduced the ability to set a maximum uninterrupted screen time allowance, after which the app blocks off the ability to navigate the feed. The block only lifts after the app is exited and left unused for a set period of time. Additionally, the app features a dashboard with statistics on how often the app is opened, how much time is spent browsing it and when the browsing occurs. Since 2021, it has been reported that accounts engaging with contents related to suicide, self-harm, or eating disorder were shown more similar videos. Some users were able to circumvent TikTok filters by writing in code or using unconventional spelling. The company has faced multiple lawsuits pertaining to wrongful deaths. TikTok said it is working to break up these "rabbit holes" of similar recommendations. U.S. searches for eating disorder receive a prompt that offers mental health resources. In 2021, the platform revealed that it will be introducing a feature that will prevent teenagers from receiving notifications past their bedtime. The company will no longer send push notifications after 9 pm to users aged between 13 and 15. For 16 to 17 year olds, notifications will not be sent after 10 pm. In March 2023, TikTok announced default screen time limits for users under the age of 18. ''The Wall Street Journal'' has reported that doctors experienced a surge in reported cases of tics, tied to an increasing number of TikTok videos from content creators with Tourette syndrome. Doctors suggested that the cause may be a social one as users who consumed content showcasing various tics would sometimes develop tics of their own, akin to mass psychogenic illness. In May 2024, the Nebraska Attorney General filed a lawsuit against TikTok for allegedly harming minors' mental health through an algorithm designed to be cultivate compulsive behavior. In October 2024, U.S. senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn requested that TikTok turn over "all documents and information" related to child safety disclosures that were uncovered by NPR and Kentucky Public Radio.


2022 medication shortage

In November 2022, Australia's medical regulatory agency, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) reported that there was a global shortage of the diabetes medication Ozempic. According to the TGA, the rise in demand was caused by an increase in off-label prescription of the drug for weight loss purposes. In December 2022, with the United States experiencing a shortage as well, it was reported that the huge increase in demand for the medicine was caused by a weight loss trend on TikTok, where videos about the drug exceeded 360 million views. Wegovy, a drug that has been specifically approved for treating obesity, also became popular on the platform after
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credited it for helping him lose weight.


Workplace conditions

Several former employees of the company have claimed of poor workplace conditions, including the start of the workweek on Sunday to cooperate with UTC+08:00, Chinese timezones and excessive workload. Employees claimed they averaged 85 hours of meetings per week and would frequently Sleep deprivation, stay up all night in order to complete tasks. Some employees claimed the workplace's schedule operated similarly to the 996 schedule. The company has a stated policy of working from 10 AM to 7 PM five days per week (63 hours per week), but employees noted that it was encouraged for employees to work after hours. One female worker complained that the company did not allow her adequate time to change her Menstrual hygiene management, feminine hygiene product because of back-to-back meetings. Another employee noted that working at the company caused her to seek marriage therapy and lose an unhealthy amount of weight. In response to the allegations, the company noted that they were committed to allowing employees "support and flexibility". In September 2023, two former ByteDance employees filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) asking the EEOC to investigate TikTok's practice of retaliation against workers who complain about discrimination.


Israeli–Palestinian conflict

With reports that Palestinians resorted to TikTok for promoting their cause after platforms like Facebook and Twitter blocked their content, Israeli analyst Yoni Ben-Menachem called the app a "tool of dangerous influence" inciting violence against Israelis. According to Ynet, the Palestinian militant group Lions' Den (militant group), Lion's Den gained much of their popularity through TikTok. In February 2023, Otzma Yehudit politician Almog Cohen (politician), Almog Cohen advocated blocking TikTok for all of East Jerusalem. U.S. lawmakers H.R. 7521, wanting to ban TikTok accused the platform of pushing pro-Hamas and pro-Palestine content. According to ''The Times of Israel'', antisemitism at the company was "rampant" after the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, allowing anti-Jewish and anti-Israel content to increase on the platform. Prominent Jewish individuals such as Sacha Baron Cohen, Debra Messing, Amy Schumer, and TikTok creator Miriam Ezagui raised the issue with Adam Presser, TikTok's head of operations, and Seth Melnick, its global head of user operations, both also Jewish. TikTok said that a significant proportion of its userbase comes from non-US regions such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia and that hashtags should not be Cherry picking, cherry-picked due to differences in the number of views per post and the age of a post or tag. The popularity of pro-Palestine content has also been explained by the app's younger user base, which has shifted its sympathy away from Israel towards the Palestinians. The Jewish Federations of North America expressed support for TikTok to be banned, while Israel's critics denounced the "criminalisation of pro-Palestinian voices," including on TikTok, which has been used to condemn "Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip, atrocities", according to ''The New Arab''. TikTok was also accused by Malaysia's minister of communications, Fahmi Fadzil of suppressing pro-Palestinian content. The company stated it banned praising Hamas and removed more than 775,000 videos and 14,000 livestreams. In November 2023, Osama bin Laden's 2002 "Letter to the American people" went viral on TikTok and other social media. In the letter, he denounced the U.S. and its support for Israel, and supported al-Qaeda's war against the U.S. as a defensive struggle. Numerous social media users, including Americans, expressed their opposition to U.S. foreign policy by sharing the resurfaced copies of the letter and its contents. ''The Guardian'' website removed the letter after displaying it for more than 20 years, and TikTok began issuing takedowns of videos featuring the letter. Reporting in ''The Washington Post'' suggested that the virality of the letter had been limited prior to media coverage, having never trended on TikTok. Many of the TikTok videos covering the letter were critical of bin Laden, and media coverage had exaggerated its significance while elevating the virality of the letter.


Child exploitation in Kenya

An investigation in 2025 found that TikTok was profiting from sexual livestreams in Kenya involving minors, with teenagers as young as 15 using the platform to solicit explicit content. Women in Kenya reported earning money through TikTok Lives, where coded sexual slang and emoji gifts facilitated transactions, with explicit content often delivered via other platforms. TikTok takes a 70% cut of these livestream earnings and has been aware of Child sexual abuse, child exploitation since at least 2022. Many moderators say the company's content policies are ineffective, and Procuring (prostitution), digital pimps exploit underage users on the large. Despite government concerns, Kenya lacks adequate moderation, and TikTok denies any sort of wrongdoing.


Restrictions and bans


Albania

On 21 December 2024, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that the Albanian government will shut down TikTok in 2025 for at least a year, following a deadly incident in November 2024 in which a teenager fatally stabbed another teen after a dispute that began on the platform. On 7 March 2025, the shutdown was officially enacted after the Council of Ministers (Albania), Albanian Cabinet cited concerns over the app's role in promoting violence and bullying among children.


Canada

On 6 November 2024, Canada ordered TikTok to shut down its offices and subsidiary company (TikTok Technology Canada, Inc.) in the country due to national security concerns, but access to the app was not banned. Users will still be able to access the video app and upload content to it.


European Union

In February 2023, the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the Council of the European Union, have all banned TikTok on staff devices, citing cybersecurity concerns.


India

In 2020, TikTok was banned indefinitely in India after the country had a 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes, border clash with China.


United States

In January 2020, the United States Army and Navy banned TikTok on government devices after the United States Department of Defense, Defense Department labeled it a security risk. Recruiters had been using the app to help fill quotas, and some continue to maintain a level of engagement through their personal accounts. According to a 2020 article in ''The New York Times'', Central Intelligence Agency analysts determined that while it is possible the Chinese government could obtain user information from the app, there was no evidence it had done so.


Federal level

On 6 August 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order which would ban TikTok transactions in 45 days if it was not sold by ByteDance. On 14 August 2020, Trump issued another order giving ByteDance 90 days to sell or spin off its U.S. TikTok business. In the order, Trump said that there is "credible evidence" that leads him to believe that ByteDance "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States". In June 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order revoking the Trump administration ban on TikTok, and instead ordered the Secretary of Commerce to investigate the app to determine if it poses a threat to U.S. national security. On 27 December 2022, the Chief Administrative Officer of the United States House of Representatives banned TikTok from all devices managed by the House of Representatives. On 30 December 2022, President Joe Biden signed the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, prohibiting the use of the app on devices owned by the federal government, with some exceptions. On 13 March 2024, the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 7521, which would ban TikTok completely unless it is divested from ByteDance. In April, the House of Representatives included a modified version of the bill in a foreign aid package which was passed by the United States Senate, Senate on 23 April 2024, and signed the next day by Biden. The law was challenged in TikTok, Inc. v. Garland but upheld by the courts as constitutional, while many users signed up for an "alternative" Chinese app Xiaohongshu, known internationally as REDnote. On 18 January 2025, hours before the bill went into effect, TikTok became unavailable across the country. The next day, TikTok restored access to their service after re-elected U.S. President Donald Trump assured TikTok he would not enforce the law. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 20 January 2025, delaying the enforcement of the TikTok ban by 75 days. In April 2025, President Donald Trump signed another executive order further delaying the enforcement of the TikTok ban by 75 days.


State level

As of February 2023, at least 32 (of 50) states have announced or enacted bans on state government agencies, employees, and contractors using TikTok on government-issued devices. State bans only affect government employees and do not prohibit civilians from having or using the app on their personal devices.


Observations

Critics say the United States itself surveils individuals abroad via tech companies under Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008, FISA laws. Data collected by TikTok and other social networks can already be purchased through other means. Some theorize that, if passed, H.R. 7521 could "embolden authoritarian censorship" of American Internet companies and affect U.S. interests, reputation, and online speech. They have also labeled a potential ban on the app an assault on freedom of speech, including Republican congressmen Rand Paul and Thomas Massie. Observers have argued that the national security concerns raised are largely hypothetical. There is insufficient public evidence to show that American user data has been accessed by or shared with the PRC government, with some claims reportedly exaggerated. Biden himself was on TikTok as the president, while Trump has reversed his previous position. According to computer security specialist Bruce Schneier, which company owns TikTok may not matter, as Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Russia had interfered in the 2016 US elections using Facebook#Russian interference, Facebook without owning it.


Partnerships

In April 2021, the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism partnered with TikTok to promote tourism for the Abu Dhabi, city. It came following the January 2021 winter campaign with the United Arab Emirates Government Media Office. In June 2023, ''The New Zealand Herald'' reported that TikTok, working in cooperation with both New Zealand and Australian police, deleted 340 accounts and 2,000 videos associated with criminal gangs including the Mongrel Mob, Black Power (New Zealand gang), Black Power, Killer Beez, the Comanchero Motorcycle Club, Comancheros, Mongols Motorcycle Club, Mongols, and Rebels Motorcycle Club, Rebels. TikTok had earlier drawn criticism for hosting content by organized crime groups promoting the gang lifestyle and fights. A TikTok spokesperson reiterated the platform's efforts to countering "violent" and "hateful" organizations' content and cooperating with police. New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster praised the platform for taking a "socially-responsible stance" against gangs. TikTok has partnered with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation to support small Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latino businesses, setting aside $5000 each for 40 grant recipients based on entrepreneurship. After digital advertising rules for the Olympics were relaxed, TikTok and Team GB signed a sponsorship deal to help UK athletes connect with new audiences for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Starting in 2021, TikTok became the primary sponsor/partner of the English Football League club Wrexham A.F.C. located in Wrexham, Wales. A large version of the TikTok logo was emblazoned on the front of the player's red coloured home and away uniforms below the Wrexham A.F.C. crest as well as on shirts sold by Wrexham's brick and mortar and virtual fan stores, the partnership ended in 2023 when Wrexham was promoted to the EFL League Two after which U.S. airline United Airlines, United took over the partnership/sponsorship.United Airlines unveiled as front-of-shirt sponsor
(Retrieved from Wrexham A.F.C. newsroom on 29 May 2024)


See also

* Cultural impact of TikTok * List of most-followed TikTok accounts * Timeline of social media


Notes


References


External links

*
Douyin
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