David Bridges
With the specter of a US ban looming, TikTok is seeking to underline its worth to the US financial system, through a brand new initiative via which the platform will spotlight how SMBs are utilizing the app to attach with their clients, and the neighborhood, to construct their enterprise.
The brand new ‘TikTok Sparks Good’ docu-series will share a variety of brief tales ‘that commemorate the varied and inspirational creator success that transcend past TikTok to create actual life change’.
Which, ostensibly, celebrates these creators and the successes that they’re seeing within the app. But it surely’s additionally a reasonably clear car via which to doubtlessly sway to US regulators who could also be contemplating whether or not to ban the app.
And TikTok’s laying it on fairly thick:
“TikTok is a spot the place People can remodel not solely their very own lives, however the lives of others. From first technology kids saving their mum or dad’s small companies to creators rallying the neighborhood to assist our veterans, TikTok is the place anybody can construct neighborhood, join, educate, and create financial alternative. We’re amazed by the facility of the TikTok neighborhood and the way it makes the platform a catalyst for good.”
I imply, that’s not not true, however on the similar time, TikTok has additionally been the supply of a variety of dangerous tendencies, detrimental psychological impacts for teenagers, exploitation, misinformation, and so on.
Whether or not the platform is a internet optimistic or detrimental will not be totally clear – whereas that query inside itself isn’t a part of the evaluation as as to if TikTok ought to be allowed to proceed working within the US both approach.
That comes right down to the app’s hyperlinks to China, and the provisions with China’s cybersecurity legal guidelines which stipulate that Chinese language-owned companies should share person knowledge with the CCP on request.
There’s nothing to recommend that the CCP has requested reminiscent of but, nor that TikTok has offered it. However the concern is that TikTok might be used as a instrument for spying on US residents, by utilizing TikTok knowledge to trace their actions, or glean private details about customers as a way to use that as leverage.
For essentially the most half, that will look like a lesser concern – why would the Chinese language Authorities wish to goal folks based mostly on their hokey TikTok clips?
However it may be an issue.
Late final 12 months, it was revealed that representatives from TikTok’s mum or dad firm ByteDance had used TikTok knowledge to trace the actions of US journalists, in a bid to find which ByteDance staff could also be leaking data to the press.
As reported by The Monetary Occasions:
“Over the summer season, 4 staff on the ByteDance inner audit crew seemed into the sharing of inner data to journalists. Two members of employees within the US and two in China gained entry to the IP addresses and different private knowledge of FT journalist Cristina Criddle, to work out if she was within the proximity of any ByteDance staff, the corporate stated.”
That is the important thing concern across the misuse of TikTok knowledge, and on this context, the rising bans of the app on government-owned gadgets is sensible, as that might be used as a vector to trace folks’s actions, and monitor who they’re assembly with.
For presidency staff, who could also be in possession of delicate data, there’s a transparent danger right here. So whereas it could not look like a significant concern to the on a regular basis TikTok person who’s posting random jokes and dance clips, there’s a extra sinister aspect, which might be of concern, particularly amid rising tensions between China and numerous different nations.
So whereas TikTok is doing all that it could actually to spotlight its worth, it’s truly extra of an apart, and probably not related to the main focus of the broader ban discussions.
However that does look like the main focus right here. And whereas it’s attention-grabbing to notice the assorted methods during which TikTok has helped these SMBs, it appears pretty clear what the intention is on this respect.
Both approach, you possibly can tune into the brand new ‘TikTok Sparks Good’ tales right here, which may encourage you to assist these companies, or provide you with new concepts on your personal TikTok promotion efforts.
