TikTok may be different than we know it. What for us Westerners is the platform where mostly irreverent short videos shoot, in most cases without a specific purpose, in China could be the tool to shape the ideal citizen, interested in the common good of society rather than in expanding the his fanbase. The difference, therefore, does not stop at the name (in the motherland it is called Douyin).
The reflection also emerges in a video in which Andrew Schultz , comedian and podcaster from New York, states how “in China the algorithm does not reward people who do stupid ballets and play with their dog”. On the contrary, it tends to spread what the Chinese authorities want citizens, especially the younger ones, to observe.
Therefore, Chinese users think that studying engineering or some other science-related subject is “cool”, as well as other activities that do not last a few seconds with the sole purpose of going viral. The role of TikTok in China, in fact, would seem to form a conscience in the younger generations, who must aspire to become famous not by “twerking” or with other viral ballets that do not add much to the community they live in, but offer something really. useful. Basically, while the western version of TikTok contributes to lowering the cultural level of users, content that aims to enrich them circulates in China. The question to ask, however, is how much this is wanted.
As we know, the algorithm has become the mirror of the desires of our century, capable of showing what a person wants to see. But adapting to a country’s culture is a practice already recognized by TikTok itself. The localized approach of the app, created by the Chinese ByteDance, is based on ad hoc content depending on the place, laws and customs of a specific area of ​​the world. Even if these seem to be subordinated to the wishes of the central government of Beijing, which would use the app as the Trojan horse of disinformation to give to the West.
In November 2019, the then 17-year-old American Feroza Azizshe was unable to log into her TikTok account after posting a video denouncing the deportation of Chinese Muslims to detention camps. The case became emblematic. The girl pretended a tutorial on how to get long lashes, and then specifically asked those who were watching her to use their cell phones to find out about the conditions of the Uyghur minority.
The need for this diversion to pass uncomfortable messages has raised legitimate doubts about the control that ByteDance carries out on users. The company apologized, considering the blocking of the account as the result of a mistake: at the beginning of the month, from the same account, a video with Osama bin Laden had been published – justified by the girl as a satirical post to joke about the discrimination she felt on the her skin as a young Muslim – and therefore the account would be blocked, along with 2,400 others to prevent “coordinated malicious behavior”.
Even though the spread of terrorist material is a good reason to delete profiles, the company had failed to shake off the negative judgment. Even today, many consider it a “Yes company” serving Beijing.
Not even the publication of its first transparency report – three years after its arrival on the market – has allowed the company to clean up its image. The idea was that, with the release, TikTok could demonstrate “how we engage responsibly with government agencies in the markets in which it operates,” wrote the social media director of public policy, Eric Ebenstein . According to the report, in the first six months of 2019 TikTok did not receive any requests for removal or information about its subscribers from China.
Curious that the analysis period stops just before the outbreak of protests in Hong Kong. The government most interested in user information was the Indian one with 107 requests (of which 47% accepted by the company), while the United States turned to the app 79 times (and 86% of the cases). Furthermore, ByteDance had ensured that the data of American users remained within the United States and that the content check was not subject to any control by Beijing. How, it is not known.
There is therefore a rather glaring short circuit. ByteDance has called TikTok a place where people intend to spend their time having fun and not discussing high topics, such as politics. This statement served as a shield to the criticism that rained on the Chinese social network for not allowing the free dissemination of videos on the Hong Kong protests two summers ago. Therefore, if on the one hand the Chinese TikTok proposes to users much more engaged themes than those circulating on the Western smartphone platforms, on the other hand these arguments must necessarily respect the position of Beijing.
Those who have never lowered their finger against the platform’s modus operandi keep repeating that it is nothing more than a propaganda tool of the Communist Party. As the Washington Post wrote, echoing the words of Yaqiu Wang , a Human Rights Watch researcher, Beijing would have completely overturned the narrative of the protests in Hong Kong using TikTok. For the researcher, the way in which the social network operated on that occasion could be replicated in other similar situations by other subjects as well.
Also because it is not clear how the contents are removed on TikTok, as the company almost never clarifies explanations. What it seems is that there is a selection on what can circulate on the platform and what cannot be shared. An example is the hashtag #antielab , used to protest against the Hong Kong extradition bill (later withdrawn): while on Instagram it was present in about 34,000 posts, on TikTok its presence stopped at 11 contents that have just received 3,000 views. The same was true for #HongKongProtests and #HongKongProtestors .
On the same platform, therefore, two different narratives coexist: one for the West – where you can find everything, but above all fun – and one for China – where the topics are socially more useful and interesting, but they always remain themes imposed by the high, as if the algorithm were the central government. Just as Beijing spreads content that does not affect its work at home, it could use the app to promote others that weaken democracies. Succeeding is not complex, given that TikTok escapes the regulation to which, willy-nilly, other Big techs must somehow submit. Perhaps one of the secrets of its success is hidden here.
According to the data provided by the company, TikTok registers 1 billion active users every month, mostly in the Asian world (63%) and mostly young people (66% are under 30 years old, most of whom have a age between 16 and 24, against only 4.76% who are over 35). Just three years after its launch, the downloads on Google Play and the App store amounted to 2 billion: now they have reached 3 billion, the same as Facebook which, however, has had more years available.
In short, calling it a dominant app is an understatement. Still, if her popularity was known to Generation Z, the older generation of lawmakers ignored her for many years. At least until she was called into question by the Federal Trade Commission, which in February 2019 fined her $ 5.7 million for violating children’s privacy. In fact, Musical.ly, before being purchased by TikTok, would have collected names, email addresses, images and other data referring to 13-year-old teenagers. Illegally, of course. Kara Swisher, a reporter for the New York Times, said how many security experts are concerned that the Chinese government has tens of millions of cameras aimed at the faces of American citizens.
To try to control at least the youngest, last year the Italian Privacy Guarantor had imposed a block for all those profiles on which it was impossible to verify the age, after the tragic death of a 9-year-old girl in Palermo. On that occasion ByteDance agreed to the decision, promising to register only those who had reached the age of majority. But, even on this occasion, it has not been clear how he intends to check that this actually happens, since entering a false date of birth is a rather simple operation.
On the other hand, attracting a young audience could be a way to expand Chinese influence. As we explained here, making the app inaccessible to adults can be useful in terms of surveillance of the little ones, left alone to navigate. Paradoxical, however, how the campaign – sacrosanct – to empower the various Facebook, Instagram and Twitter by setting legislative stakes is not also moved to TikTok.
The app made its appearance in the United States shortly after Donald Trump’s arrival at the White House and, it must be said, found no supporter. But concerns about sharing his fellow citizens’ data with the Chinese government stopped at the mere threat of banning social media from unless his American assets were bought by a star-and-stripe company. The deal was sought with Oracle, Walmart, Microsoft, but it never materialized.
The only ban the former president had imposed was on the military, who had been banned from downloading or registering on the app as a matter of national security. Too bad that the army has flown over and continues to use it to look for new recruits among the youngest. Therefore, Trump did not match the fear of Chinese indoctrination with a concrete action, leaving the ball in the hands of his successor. Which has opened a “verification” still in progress.
An attempt to reassure Washington was also tried by TikTok boss himself, Alex Zhu. It was 2019 and he had repeated the usual script: no control by Beijing, no censorship for sensitive content – except those that do not comply with the guidelines of the app – and the promise to take further steps forward in terms of regulation. . From that moment on, and a continuous run-up to try to curb the expansionism of TikTok. Which, as written, has two faces: on the other hand, as the boy in the video rhetorically asks while sipping his beer, “if your name is China and you intend to destroy another country, you would not reward the stupidest content possible on the app.
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