Chinese app TikTok – BOL News Staging

TikTok denies US accusations of ties to Chinese government

August 18, 2020 by Arhama Altaf

Chinese video-sharing app TikTok has denied rumours linking up to the Chinese government calling the US accusations as ‘rumours and misinformation’.

TikTok launched an online information hub as its Chinese parent firm faced a deadline set by President Donald Trump to divest TikTok before the app is banned in the United States.

On a web page titled “The Last Sunny Corner of the Internet,” TikTok maintained it was setting the record straight about the platform.

“TikTok has never provided any US user data to the Chinese government, nor would it do so if asked,” the company said in the post.

“Any insinuation to the contrary is unfounded and blatantly false.”

According to TikTok, US user data is stored here, with a backup in Singapore.

The company, owned by China-based ByteDance, also launched a new Twitter account to address issues in real-time.

Trump has claimed TikTok could be used by China to track the locations of federal employees and conduct corporate espionage.

The US leader early this month also ordered a ban on the messaging app WeChat which is used extensively in China.

TikTok partners with U.S. music distribution company

August 17, 2020 by Muhammad Usman

TikTok has signed a deal with U.S. music distribution company UnitedMasters that will allow the TikTok users to distribute their music directly to different streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. The announcement comes days after American President Donald Trump had ordered ByteDance, TikTok’s parent, to stop the video app operations within 90 days. He … Read more

Trump once again targets TikTok with new executive order

August 15, 2020 by Arhama Altaf

United States (US) President Donald Trump once again targeted ByteDance with a new executive order ordering it to sell the US operations of its video-sharing app TikTok within 90 days.

Trump, last week, issued restrictions that TikTok and WeChat will end all operations in the US, his move aimed to counter China’s rising global power.

ByteDance bought karaoke video app Musical.y from a Chinese rival about three years ago in a deal valued at nearly a billion dollars. It later incorporated into TikTok, which turned out to be global popularity.

Trump’s order contends there is “credible evidence” leading him to believe that ByteDance’s take-over of Musical.ly ‘threatens to impair the national security of the United States.’

Mark Zuckerberg becomes $5.3 billion richer after launching TikTok rival

August 11, 2020 by Arhama Altaf

Facebook rolled out its own version of social media rival TikTok in the United States and more than 50 other countries on Wednesday, embedding a new short-form video service called Reels as a feature within its popular Instagram app.

The launch of Reels increased Facebook shares by more than 6% making Mark Zuckerberg who owns a 13% stake in the company the new member of the exclusive ‘Centibillionaire Club’ alongside Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates.

Tech giants Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google have been among the biggest benefactors of coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions as more people shop, watch entertainment, and socialise online.

According to the details, Zuckerberg’s personal wealth increased about $22b this year, while Bezos’s has grown by more than $75b.

The launch of Reels couldn’t have come at a better time for Facebook as Donald Trump issued an executive order to deal with what the US president called the “threat” of TikTok in the US.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google owner Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, and Apple’s Tim Cook parried a range of accusations that they crippled smaller rivals in their quest for market share.

US senator Bernie Sanders this week unveiled the Make Billionaires Pay Act plan to tax what he called “obscene wealth gains” made by billionaires during the pandemic.

The act aims to tax 60% of the increase in a billionaire’s net worth from the start of the pandemic through to the end of the year.

Facebook launches new TikTok rival, Instagram Reels in US, 50 other countries

August 6, 2020 by Arhama Altaf

Facebook on Wednesday launches its own version of video-sharing app TikTok called Reels as a feature within Instagram in the United States and 50 other countries.

According to the details, Facebook launches Reels officially, a copycat version of TikTok that pairs with Instagram.

The debut comes days after Microsoft said it was in talks to acquire TikTok’s US operations from China’s ByteDance. ByteDance has agreed to divest parts of TikTok, sources have said, under pressure from the White House which has threatened to ban it and other Chinese-owned apps over data security concerns.

China will not accept US ‘theft’ of TikTok: Report

August 4, 2020 by Arhama Altaf

TikTok claims another life as a girl dies while making a video

China will not accept the ‘theft’ of a Chinese tech company and is able to respond to Washington’s move to push ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to Microsoft.

According to reports, the United States’ “bullying” of Chinese tech companies a consequence of Washington’s zero-sum vision of “American first” and left China no choice but “submission or mortal combat in the tech realm”,

However, China had plenty of ways to respond if the administration carries out its planned smash and grab, reports added.

Microsoft Corp said it was in talks with ByteDance to buy parts of TikTok after U.S. President Donald Trump reversed course on a plan to ban the app on national security grounds and gave the firms 45 days to strike a deal.

Moreover, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Trump would take action shortly against Chinese software companies that shared user data with the Chinese government.

U.S. treatment of ByteDance and Huawei Technologies, now on a U.S. trade blacklist, was indicative of U.S. efforts to separate its economy from China’s.

China had “limited ability” to provide protection to these Chinese companies by retaliating against U.S. companies because the United States had technological superiority and influence with its allies, as per details.

“China’s opening-up to the outside world and disintegrating the U.S. decoupling strategy should be priorities,” it said in an editorial.

Donald Trump says he will ban TikTok in US

August 1, 2020 by Arhama Altaf

United States (US) President Donald Trump said he will ban social media app TikTok from the country as American authorities have raised concerns the service could be a tool for Chinese intelligence.

US officials and lawmakers in recent weeks have voiced fears of the wildly popular video platform being used by Beijing for nefarious purposes, but the company has denied any links to the Chinese government.

According to media reports, Trump would require the US operations of the app be divested from its Chinese parent firm ByteDance, but the president announced a ban.

Speaking to media officials, Trump said: “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States.”

Moreover, he added he would take action as soon as Saturday using emergency economic power or an executive order.

TikTok denied allegations of Chinese influence

July 20, 2020 by Aizbah Khan

TikTok, a video-sharing application, has denied allegations of Chinese influence. Theo Bertram, head of public policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, says he will reject any request for data from China. According to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), he said: “The suggestion that we are in any way under the … Read more

TikTok ban: PTI submits resolution in Punjab Assembly

July 18, 2020 by Aizbah Khan

Lahore: Voices have been raised in the Assembly regarding the ban on video-sharing mobile application TikTok in Pakistan. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and member of Seemabia Tahir has submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly regarding the ban on TikTok. The text of the resolution submitted by Seemabia Tahir said, “Religions are being ridiculed in … Read more

TikTok faces $155,000 fine for mishandling child data in South Korea

July 16, 2020 by Arhama Altaf

Popular video-sharing application, TikTok, has been under scrutiny for its subpar data handling methods and ties with the Chinese government. The application was recently banned in India and is currently undergoing a few trials in the US as well.

According to a recent report, TikTok developers are in deep waters in South Korea as well. The Korean Communications Commission (KCC) has fined the company for 186 million or $155,000 for mishandling of child data.

According to the details, KCC acts as the regulator and overwatches the country’s telecommunications and data related sectors just like Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

The fine follows reports of ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, failing to protect users’ private data specifically youngsters in the region.

LHC petition seeks ban on TikTok, says it is peddling vulgarity

July 14, 2020 by Arhama Altaf

A lawyer approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday seeking its directives for the authorities concerned to ban highly popular social media app TikTok in Pakistan.

Advocate Nadeem Sarwar states in his petition that the video-sharing app is disastrous for the younger generation as it is not only leading to wastage of time and money but also peddling vulgarity.

Besides, he submitted, acts of blackmailing and harassment are on the rise because of TikTok. If not banned, it would prove to be harmful to the country’s social fabric, he added.

Therefore, he pleaded with the high court issued directives for the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to impose a permanent ban on the use of TikTok.

Amazon walks back TikTok ban, saying it was a mistake

July 12, 2020July 12, 2020 by Arhama Altaf

Amazon, in just a matter of hours, banned and then unbanned video sharing app TikTok from its employees phone.

The ban by Amazon on TikTok app was later declared as a ‘mistake’.

The news generated widespread attention for the Chinese-owned social media platform coming the same week US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States is “certainly looking at” banning TikTok.

It was not immediately clear what led to the initial ban by Amazon. A source said senior Amazon executives were unaware of the request to delete TikTok from employee devices.

The ban was reversed after TikTok and Amazon representatives discussed the matter, according to the sources.

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