Tik Tok seems at first sight an innocent sort of thing: an app loved by children and young people, designed for making and sharing short, funny videos.
Yet it has become highly controversial. India has already banned it. Other countries, including the US and Australia, claim to be considering a ban. In the UK, TikTok is under investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for allegedly mishandling children’s data.
The company claims that it does want to protect children’s data, but these words ring hollow. “TikTok has done nothing of significance in order to take steps to protect its users and their data from predators”, says Greg Giraldo, head of Human Resources for the US Federal Trade Commission.
In October of 2021, TikTok was fined a record $6 million dollars by the US Federal Trade Commission for collecting data of children 13 and under and selling it to third parties. This trend has not been restricted to the United States, TikTok has been facing similar and severe consequences in countries all over the world. TikTok has also been financially penalized in Italy, Germany, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark, among others.
Despite the harsh criticisms and financial penalties, TikTok does not seem to be in a rush to change the landscape or user requirements for the social networking service. TikTok is owned by Beijing-based technology company ByteDance, founded by billionaire entrepreneur Zhang Yiming. Yiming has reiterated that although he can understand concerns being raised, he is a firm believer in the way TikTok is currently being run and doesn’t see any immediate need for change. “If people don’t like it, don’t use it. It really is that simple”, says Yiming. ” We currently have one of the top social media apps in the world.People enjoy TikTok the way it is and I will not compromise our artistic vision for this app”.
It remains to be seen what will happen in the future regarding privacy laws and the growing concern over social media’s gathering and use of its users personal data. However, with Yiming seemingly standing his ground amongst pressure from lawmakers such as the US Federal Trade Commission, one has to wonder if the days of TikTok are coming to an end. Perhaps TikTok has indeed begun to sing its final tune.