TikTok has exploded in popularity since launching internationally in 2017. According to a 2023 report, TikTok has reached over 1.5 billion monthly active users, representing 16% growth from 2022. The app’s short-form video format has proven highly engaging for users. In the US alone, between Q3 2019 and Q2 2020, TikTok usage grew by 123%. With its viral dances, challenges, and effects, TikTok has become a cultural phenomenon and one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the world.
Government Regulation of Social Media
The Chinese government imposes strict regulations and censorship on social media platforms operating within China. Under President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has significantly tightened its control over the internet and social media. The CCP implements censorship through legislative actions, regulatory procedures, and technical blocking and filtering of content. According to the CCP, restricting social media safeguards national security, maintains social stability, and promotes a harmonious society.
Major social media platforms operating in China must abide by Chinese internet regulations and enforce censorship. Companies that fail to comply face being blocked or shut down. The CCP targets content that it deems politically sensitive, such as criticism of the party and dissent. Companies are expected to monitor user activities and filter out prohibited keywords and topics. According to a Columbia University study, as many as 3,000 social media moderators review and censor content on Weibo, known as China’s Twitter (Columbia University).
TikTok’s Chinese Origins
TikTok is owned by the Chinese technology company ByteDance, founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming. ByteDance launched TikTok in September 2016 for iOS and Android markets outside of mainland China, after acquiring the Chinese video platform Musical.ly the same year. Originally named Douyin in China, TikTok was designed to fill a gap in the market by providing a platform for creating and sharing short video content. While immensely popular within mainland China, the Chinese government regulates and censors content on Douyin much more heavily compared to what TikTok users see internationally. However, TikTok’s Chinese origins and ownership by ByteDance have caused ongoing concerns about censorship and access to user data.
Content Restrictions
One of the main ways TikTok regulates users in China is through content restrictions on videos and livestreams. TikTok employs both human moderators and AI algorithms to identify and remove content deemed inappropriate or illegal by Chinese authorities. This includes broad categories like nudity, violence, illegal activities, and hate speech. But restrictions also extend to topics considered politically sensitive by the Chinese government.
For example, any content about the Tiananmen Square protests, Tibetan independence, or the banned spiritual group Falun Gong is strictly prohibited. References to dissidents and activism are quickly removed. Even indirect criticism of the Chinese Communist Party and its policies is heavily restricted. The mechanisms and rules used for enforcing these restrictions are not transparent to users. The result is an environment of self-censorship, where Chinese TikTok users avoid posting any content that could risk deletion or their account being blocked.
Keyword Blocking
TikTok employs keyword blocking to censor certain words and phrases on the platform in China. According to Wikipedia, topics deemed politically sensitive by the Chinese government are suppressed on TikTok in China. Words and phrases related to protests, independence movements, and criticism of the government are blocked. For example, references to the Tiananmen Square protests, Tibetan independence, and the banned religious group Falun Gong are restricted. According to a report by Forbes, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance uses lists of “sensitive words” to identify and suppress certain content. While TikTok claims it does not use these lists, their existence points to how China’s censorship apparatus may shape the platform.
User Data Access
One of the biggest concerns raised about TikTok is the potential for the Chinese government to access user data. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that is subject to Chinese cybersecurity laws. These laws require companies to share data with the government upon request. According to CNN, US officials have long suspected that the Chinese government may be able to access TikTok user data, but proof has been lacking.
Recent statements by TikTok have acknowledged that some US user data is in fact stored in China. As reported by Forbes, TikTok revealed under oath that data for US content creators is stored in China. This contradicts past claims that all US user data was stored outside of China. While the amount of data accessible in China is unclear, the admission raises concerns about potential government access.
Given China’s restrictive internet policies, the possibility of the government tapping into TikTok user data is alarming to many. TikTok has emphasized its efforts to limit Chinese access to data, but its latest admissions draw those assurances into question. The opaque nature of data flows between TikTok and its parent company continues to unsettle US authorities, as China potentially gains insights into American digital behavior.
TikTok in Hong Kong
During the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, TikTok was accused of censoring content related to the movement. According to a report by The Guardian, TikTok suspended a number of accounts belonging to Hong Kong users for posting about the protests.
ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, said the accounts were not suspended due to the protest content itself, but because of supposed coordination with other social media users to spread disinformation. However, protesters argued that the suspensions showed how TikTok was capitulating to pressure from the Chinese government.
There were also reports that TikTok was censoring hashtags related to the Hong Kong protests. Searches on the platform for common protest slogans and terms came up with no results or limited results, indicating keyword blocking. TikTok responded that it was simply moderating in line with U.S. disinformation tactics.
Nevertheless, the incidents raised major concerns about whether user data was being passed from TikTok to Chinese authorities to help identify protesters. This highlighted the close links between TikTok and mainland China, despite not being available there.
International Growth
TikTok has seen explosive growth outside of China in recent years, becoming one of the world’s most popular social media platforms. After launching outside of mainland China in 2017, TikTok was downloaded over 1 billion times globally by February 2019 (1). TikTok’s international growth has been driven by its ability to adapt to different markets and cater to the preferences of users worldwide (2). For example, TikTok developed localized moderation policies and created content to appeal to users in various countries.
Attempts at Transparency
TikTok has made some attempts at transparency regarding its data privacy protections, likely in response to scrutiny from international users. According to TikTok’s privacy policy, the company claims that for users outside of China, user data is stored on servers in Singapore and backed up in the United States. TikTok also states that employees outside of China do not have access to data on Chinese users. However, experts have raised concerns about whether TikTok’s complex corporate structure allows it to fully separate data in this manner. Additionally, TikTok has not provided transparency into what user data is still accessible to employees in China, and whether data could be accessed by the Chinese government if requested. Some critics argue that full transparency is not possible due to Chinese laws requiring companies to share data with the government when national security concerns are cited.
In 2022, TikTok made its source code available for public review in an effort to assure users of its security protections. However, experts noted this did not include the algorithms TikTok uses for recommendations and content moderation. According to a recent report, TikTok plans to allow experts to examine its recommendation algorithm more closely in the future to address concerns about data privacy and potential algorithmic bias.
Sources:
https://www.coursera.org/articles/data-privacy
Conclusion
Throughout its growth, TikTok has faced controversy over the level of control and restrictions imposed by its parent company ByteDance and the Chinese government. While TikTok does operate a separate international version outside of China, there are some key limitations and monitoring practices that persist.
One of the main restrictions is keyword blocking, where mentions of sensitive topics like Tiananmen Square are censored. TikTok also provides user data access to ByteDance, allowing the parent company oversight of international users. Additionally, during the Hong Kong protests, TikTok was used to censor and surveil protestors and content critical of China.
While TikTok has claimed to store international user data outside of China and not be influenced by the Chinese government, its close ties to ByteDance and China have created mistrust among some users and government officials. TikTok continues to grow in popularity globally but faces ongoing controversy about restrictions and being subject to Chinese oversight.
