The developer indicated that this app supports the following accessibility features. The developer, TikTok Ltd., indicated that this app supports the following accessibility features to help make common tasks in the app faster and easier to complete. Enjoy a better video browsing experience on our enhanced feed. ■ Be entertained and inspired by a global community of creatorsMillions of creators are on TikTok showcasing their incredible skills and everyday life. ■ Pause recording multiple times in one videoPause and resume your video with just a tap. TikTok had earlier drawn criticism for hosting content by organized crime groups promoting the gang lifestyle and fights.

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In response to the exposé, Kenya’s Communications Authority (CA) launched a formal inquiry, directing TikTok to remove all sexual content involving minors and submit a detailed plan to strengthen its moderation and child protection systems. Reporting in The Washington Post suggested that the virality of the letter had been limited prior to media coverage, having never trended on TikTok. TikTok was also accused by Malaysia’s minister of communications, Fahmi Fadzil of suppressing pro-Palestinian content. 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 atrocities», according to The New Arab. 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-picked due to differences in the number of views per post and the age of a post or tag. 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.
In 2020, TikTok updated their terms of service to ban content that promotes «premium sexual content», impacting a large number of adult content creators. TikTok is regularly used by sex workers to promote pornographic content sold on platforms such as OnlyFans. In 2020, digital media companies such as Group Nine Media and Global used TikTok increasingly, focusing on tactics such as brokering partnerships with TikTok influencers and developing branded content campaigns. Existing sellers on FeetFinder said that the videos often misrepresented how «easy» it is to make money from posting feet pictures. In 2022, it was reported that a trend called «de-influencing» had become popular on the platform as a backlash to influencer marketing. TikTok reportedly made as much as a 70% commission on some of them, a figure that the company disputed.

YouTube Kids

Civil society groups warn that these apps push users down «rabbit holes» and then surround them in an «information cocoon». The company will no longer send push notifications after 9 pm to users aged between 13 and 15. TikTok has also received criticism for enabling children to purchase coins which they can send to other users. TikTok executives and representatives have noted and made aware to advertisers on the platform that users have poor attention spans. Nonetheless, several users have reported cyberbullying via features such as Duet or React, which is used to interact with followers. In August 2022, software engineer and security researcher Felix Krause found that in-app browsers from TikTok and other platforms contained codes for keylogger functionality but did not have the means to further investigate whether any data was tracked or recorded.
This is a concern as many of TikTok’s audience are younger children, whose brains are still developing. TikTok uses popular influencers to encourage viewers to stop using the app and take a break. Vox noted in 2018 that bullies and trolls were relatively rare on TikTok compared to other platforms. 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.
TikTok has taken measures to remove and prevent access to content displaying the trend. The song rose to popularity when musician Daniel Mertzlufft composed a backing track to the song. In 2020, Fleetwood Mac’s «Dreams» was used in a skating video and a recreation by Mick Fleetwood.
The company posted job listings for staff for a series of order fulfillment centers in the US and is reportedly planning to start the new live shopping business before the end of the year. 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. The founder of ByteDance, Zhang Yiming, stated that «China is home to only one-fifth of Internet 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.»

• In 2023, a trend emerged where streamers acted as if they were video-game characters following prompts from their viewers.
• 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.
• TikTok merged with Musical.ly on 2 August 2018 with existing accounts and data consolidated into one app, keeping the title TikTok.
• TikTok’s algorithm, recognized by The New York Times in 2020 as one of the most advanced for shaping user experiences and social interactions, stands out from traditional social media.
• 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.
• 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.

Data Linked to You

• Keeping user data within the United States became the motivation behind TikTok’s Project Texas.
• The platform’s algorithm also contributes to the influencer marketing potential, as it picks out content according to the user’s preference.
• They also reported that facilities that offered these surgeries were also posting about them on TikTok.
• Despite safety concerns, TikTok began rolling out photo, video, and voice messaging around 2025.
• 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.
• Private content remains visible to TikTok but is blocked from TikTok users who the account holder has not authorized to view their content.
• 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.

Wegovy, a drug that has been specifically approved for treating obesity, also became popular on the platform after Elon Musk credited it for helping him lose weight. A 2025 meta-analysis found that use of TikTok was correlated with symptoms of anxiety and depression, with stronger links in females and users under 24 years old. Some users were able to circumvent TikTok filters by writing in code or using unconventional spelling. 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. 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. 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.
TikTok’s own investigation found more than 12,000 fake accounts, including ones using additional languages such as English and Italian. In December 2023, BBC News reported that it had discovered nearly 800 fake TikTok accounts promoting Russian propaganda and ruhtinas disinformation. Tracking Exposed, a user data rights group, learned of what was likely a technical glitch that became exploited by pro-Russia posters.

Potential data collection by the Chinese government

In November 2023, Osama bin Laden’s 2002 «Letter to the American people» went viral on TikTok and other social media. The company stated it banned praising Hamas and removed more than 775,000 videos and 14,000 livestreams. 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.
■ Watch endless amount of videos customized specifically for youA personalized video feed based on what you watch, like, and share. All you have to do is watch, engage with what you like, skip what you don’t, and you’ll find an endless stream of short videos that feel personalized just for you. On TikTok, short-form videos are exciting, spontaneous, and genuine.
The app has spawned numerous viral trends, Internet celebrities, and music trends around the world. On 19 July 2023, TikTok Music was expanded for select users in Australia, Mexico and Singapore. However, a few days later, users on Twitter discovered that the software uses code from the open-source OBS Studio. 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. 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. TikTok announced a «family safety mode» in February 2020 for parents to be able to control their children’s presence on the app.
TikTok’s privacy policy lists that the app collects usage information, IP addresses, a user’s mobile carrier, unique device identifiers, keystroke patterns, and location data, among other data. 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. 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. The platform’s algorithm also contributes to the influencer marketing potential, as it picks out content according to the user’s preference.

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 US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia reportedly subpoenaed information from ByteDance regarding its surveillance of journalists on TikTok. 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.

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Some of the recordings were made during consultations with Booz Allen Hamilton, a US government contractor. 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. Concerns have been raised about the potential control and influence of the Chinese government over TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, in particular the extraterritorial implications of China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law. 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.