The differences between Douyin and TikTok have led some US politicians and commentators to accuse the company or the Chinese government of malicious intent. Out of TikTok’s top 100 male creators, a 2022 analysis reported 67% were white, with 54% having near-perfect facial symmetry. The average user, daily, was spending 1 hour and 25 minutes on the app and opening TikTok 17 times.

Underage users

• Data collected by TikTok and other social networks can already be purchased through other means.
• The practice began as a way to grow and diversify content and influencers that were not automatically picked up by the recommendation algorithm.
• In 2019, The Guardian reported that TikTok had censored videos of topics not favored by the Chinese government.
• The “For You” page on TikTok is a feed of videos that are recommended to users based on their activity on the app.
• Under the agreement reached, it is guaranteed that Americans will be protected on the social network TikTok through “data protection,” “content oversight,” and “algorithm security.”

Charli D’Amelio remained the most-followed individual on the platform until she was surpassed by Khaby Lame on 23 June 2022. It is reported that TikTok Music features songs from major record companies like Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group. If an eligible creator’s video reaches the top 4%, they will receive a 50% share of the revenue from ads displayed with the video. If over 18, the user’s followers can send virtual “gifts” that can be later exchanged for money.

• Recruiters had been using the app to help fill quotas, and some continue to maintain a level of engagement through their personal accounts.
• By searching for four keywords—Uyghur, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Tiananmen, the researchers found that TikTok returned a higher percentage of positive, neutral, or irrelevant content related to human rights in China.
• TikTok has provided a platform for users to create content not only for fun but also for money.
• TikTok has also received criticism for enabling children to purchase coins which they can send to other users.
• While TikTok remains accessible to users in most countries, a minority of countries (including India and Afghanistan) have implemented full or partial bans.

Platform

■ 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 ruhtinas stream of short videos that feel personalized just for you. On TikTok, short-form videos are exciting, spontaneous, and genuine.
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.

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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.
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.
In May 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that former employees complained about TikTok tracking users who had viewed LGBT-related content. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) actively recruits influencers on TikTok and other social media platforms, often with what commentators have dubbed “Thirst traps”. In October 2020, the e-commerce platform Shopify added TikTok to its portfolio of social media platforms, allowing online merchants to sell their products directly to consumers on TikTok.
In August 2024, the NCRI released a subsequent report based on user journey data from 24 accounts that they created across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. After increased scrutiny, TikTok said it is granting some outside experts access to the platform’s anonymized data sets and protocols, including filters, keywords, criteria for heating, and source code. In January 2023, Forbes reported that a “heating” tool allows TikTok to manually promote certain videos, comprising 1–2% of daily views. A significant number of users on TikTok, such as Juju Green, create content surrounding Film criticism and Easter eggs.
Several TikTok content creators, such as Eitan Bernath and Emily Mariko have gained recognition through their recipes and content. Another TikTok trend known as the Kia Challenge involves users stealing certain models of Kia and Hyundai cars manufactured without immobilizers, which was a standard feature at the time, between 2010 and 2021. Since Mertzlufft’s video, many new elements including costume design, additional songs, and a playbill have been created.
On 22 January 2021, the Italian Data Protection Authority demanded that TikTok temporarily suspend Italian users whose age could not be established. Comment sections of “sexy” videos, such as young girls dancing in revealing clothes, were found to contain requests for nude pictures. In March 2023, TikTok announced default screen time limits for users under the age of 18.

Product features

The deal was completed by January 22, 2026, with investors including Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX, and others including the personal investment entity for Michael Dell will own more than 80% of the new venture, while ByteDance retained 19.9% ownership. The day before the impending ban, California-based conversational search engine company Perplexity AI submitted a bid for a merger with TikTok US. In January 2025, Chinese officials began preliminary talks about potentially selling TikTok’s US operations to Elon Musk if the app faced an impending ban due to national security concerns. In March 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that TikTok’s growth in the US had stagnated.

Duets, a feature that allows users to add their own video to an existing video with the original content’s audio, have sparked many of these trends. In December 2021, TikTok started beta-testing Live Studio, a streaming software that would let users broadcast applications open on their computers, including games. Users can choose whether any other user, or only their “friends”, may interact with them through the app via comments, messages, or “react” or “duet” videos. The app’s “react” feature allows users to film their reaction to a specific video, over which it is placed in a small window that is movable around the screen.

In Malaysia, TikTok is used by some users to engage in hate speech against race and religion especially mentioning the 13 May incident after the 2022 election. TikTok has since released tougher parental controls to filter out inappropriate content and to ensure they can provide sufficient protection and security. 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. Some videos were shown to expressly promote Holocaust denial and told viewers to take up arms and fight in the name of white supremacy and the swastika.
On 21 December 2024, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that the Albanian government will shut down TikTok in 2025 for at least a year, following a deadly incident in November 2024 in which a teenager fatally stabbed another teen after a dispute that began on the platform. A Meta spokesperson defended the effort, saying that all platforms, including TikTok, should face equal scrutiny. An investigation in 2025 found that TikTok was profiting from sexual livestreams in Kenya involving minors, with teenagers as young as 15 using the platform to solicit explicit content. The Guardian website removed the letter after displaying it for more than 20 years, and TikTok began issuing takedowns of videos featuring the letter. US lawmakers wanting to ban TikTok accused the platform of pushing pro-Hamas and pro-Palestine content. Several former employees of the company have claimed of poor workplace conditions, including the start of the workweek on Sunday to cooperate with Chinese time zones and excessive workload.