**Washington (United States) (AFP)** – Video-sharing platform TikTok has over a billion users worldwide, including more than 170 million in the United States, it says — nearly half the country’s population. Here is a closer look at the app, which on Thursday announced it had established a majority American-owned joint venture to operate its US business.
**- Born in China**
TikTok’s transformation from niche video app to global digital entertainment powerhouse is one of the biggest shifts in the sector since the advent of social media. From friends dancing together to home chefs demonstrating recipes or people sharing political views, TikTok can turn ordinary users into celebrities, revolutionizing the traditional path to stardom. The platform was launched in 2016 by Chinese tech company ByteDance for the local market, where it is called Douyin. The international version, TikTok, was released in 2017. It gained massive momentum after merging with Musical.ly, a lip-synching app, a year later.
**- ‘For You’ page**
The so-called secret sauce in TikTok’s rapid expansion has been its innovative recommendation algorithm. Instead of showing content from accounts that users already follow, the endless scroll of TikTok’s “For You” page is based on viewing habits, engagement patterns and sophisticated content analysis. A video from a complete unknown can reach millions of people if the algorithm determines it engaging enough — a model that the app’s rivals have been keen to follow. TikTok’s focus on short clips also helps keep users hooked. It was initially limited to uploads of 15 seconds, but this was later expanded to up to 10 minutes, and now some users can post videos as long as 60 minutes.
**- Suspicions**
TikTok’s mass appeal has made its rise controversial — mainly over its Chinese ownership and built-in unpredictability. The platform has faced scrutiny worldwide, particularly in the United States, over data privacy and potential ties to the Chinese government, including accusations of spying and propaganda. India banned TikTok along with other Chinese apps in 2020, citing national security concerns. And a European Union watchdog fined TikTok 530 million euros ($620 million) last year for failing to guarantee its user data was shielded from access by Chinese authorities. The social media giant has appealed the fine, insisting it has never received any requests from Chinese authorities for European users’ data.
**- Sell or be banned**
The US Congress passed legislation in 2024 requiring that ByteDance divest control of TikTok in the United States, or be banned. The matter was a major sticking point in US-China trade negotiations, and last month, an internal memo from TikTok’s CEO said an agreement had been reached on a new joint venture in the United States. On Friday, TikTok unveiled its new business structure, which it said would implement strict safeguards for data protection, algorithm security and content moderation. ByteDance retains a 19.9 percent stake in the joint venture, keeping its ownership below the 20 percent threshold stipulated by the law. Three investors — Silver Lake, Oracle, and Abu Dhabi-based AI investment fund MGX — each hold 15 percent stakes. Oracle’s executive chairman Larry Ellison is a longtime Trump ally.
**- Teenage safety fears**
In a world first in December, Australia banned under-16s from major social media platforms including TikTok, with the onus on tech firms to kick young users off their services. Other countries have expressed concern about the potential effects of TikTok on young users, including accusations it funnels them into echo chambers and fails to contain illegal, violent, or obscene content. Albania banned TikTok for a year in March after a 14-year-old schoolboy was killed in the culmination of a confrontation that started on social media.
© 2024 AFP
