TikTok is a social media app that lets people make and share short videos, most of which have music playing in the background. With over 1 billion active users as of 2021, the app has become very popular among younger people. Using tools like filters, effects, and sound bites, users can make videos that are 15 seconds to one minute long.
The app’s algorithm also suggests content to users based on what they like and how much they use it. This makes the app more personal for each user. But TikTok has been criticized for things like privacy concerns, content that isn’t appropriate, and the possibility that it could lead to addiction. In spite of this, TikTok continues to be a popular and influential social media platform.
Friday, TikTok said that the European Commission didn’t talk to it about a decision to ban the Chinese short video sharing app from staff phones for security reasons. Another top EU body then did the same thing.
The app is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. Western authorities are looking at it more closely because they are worried that the Chinese government could use it to get people’s information. Beijing has always said that it has no plans to do this.
On Thursday, the EU executive and the EU Council, which is made up of representatives from each member state and decides on policy priorities, said that employees will also have to delete TikTok from personal mobile devices that can access corporate services.
TikTok has said in the past that Beijing can’t get to the information on its service. It said that neither the U.S. government nor Beijing had told it about the decisions before they were made.
“So we really are working in the dark. And the lack of openness and proper procedures. One would honestly expect, you know, some kind of action on this issue “TikTok’s director of public policy and government relations, Caroline Greer, told Reuters.
She said she couldn’t answer the bodies’ concerns about cybersecurity because they hadn’t said what they were.
The European Commission pointed to what EU industry chief Thierry Breton said at a news conference on Thursday. He said that the EU executive doesn’t have to explain why it makes decisions in order to do its job.
“The decision to stop using TikTok is an internal one made to protect the data and staff of the Council General Secretariat (GSC) from cyber threats. Since the GSC doesn’t have a contract with TikTok, it doesn’t have to talk to or tell them anything “a person from the EU said.
Greer said that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was “worried and a little confused” when he met Breton and other commissioners in Brussels in January.
“He has always been easy to reach, and he has always been quick to answer the Commission… We have asked for a meeting in any way they want.”
Greer said that other EU institutions should do their own research on the app before making decisions about it.
TikTok is not allowed on devices owned by the US Senate or by the government in India. This has not been done by the European Parliament.
TikTok is a social media app that has taken the world by storm. It gives people a way to express themselves through short videos that is creative and fun. With its algorithmic suggestions for content and easy-to-use tools for editing and sharing videos, the app has become very popular among younger people.
But TikTok has also been looked at and criticized for how it handles personal information, how it handles inappropriate content, and how it could lead to addiction. TikTok is still a big deal in the world of social media, despite these worries. Its influence goes beyond the app itself and into pop culture and mainstream media.
