TikTok

TikTok is setting itself apart from most other online platforms that offer messaging by stating that it won’t be introducing end-to-end encryption to ensure the privacy of direct messages.

This means that the company will be able to read messages sent between users, which is likely to cause concerns even after its US operations were separated from its Chinese owner …

Update: Added comment from TikTok below

Update: Oracle says the issue was resolved on March 4 at 4:18 a.m. ET. The original post follows below.

As spotted by The Verge, US TikTok is experiencing renewed service issues after a second Oracle outage in just over a month, with users facing delays and lag while posting content. Here are the details.

Apple Music and TikTok are teaming up two new features for the short-form video app. First, the companies are beta testing the ability to play a full song in the TikTok app using Apple Music. The two are also working on a Listening Party feature, allowing fans to listen to their favorite music together.

TikTok is officially under US ownership for American users, and after a rocky first week plagued by issues, the new owners have just announced a brand new TikTok feature exclusive to the US: the Local Feed.

At the end of last week, the long-anticipated transfer to US ownership for TikTok operations in the US officially took place. But it didn’t take long for American TikTok users to start seeing signs of a broken app. Now, we have an official explanation.

TikTok’s future in the US has reached a major milestone today, as the new US-owned spinoff for American users has officially launched. Here’s what that means for TikTok users in the US today, and moving forward.

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but it appears that the TikTok sale odyssey may be about to wrap up. Here are the details.

With a growing number of legislators wanting to set limits on the use of social media apps by teenagers and children, TikTok is hitting back.

The company argues – with an apparently straight face – that new features like an affirmation journal, background sound generator, and app badges are likely to be more effective …

The European Union has found that both Meta and TikTok failed to properly protect children, including making it difficult to report the presence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in their apps.

Separately, Meta has faced a setback in its defense of lawsuits filed by multiple US states, accusing the company of deliberately making its apps addictive despite knowing they were harmful to teenagers …

The ongoing TikTok-US saga seems close to reaching a conclusion, but we’re not there yet. As details get worked out for a potential Oracle-driven deal, a new Bloomberg report details the plans for TikTok’s algorithm in the US.

Both US and Chinese officials are stating that an agreement has been reached for an American TikTok spin-off to be sold to American investors.

It’s not the first time the Trump administration has claimed that a deal has been agreed, but it is the first time that China is backing the claim, albeit in somewhat more muted terms …

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TikTok has been found selling GPS trackers through its Shop feature that are being marketed by viral videos explicitly encouraging secretly tracking a romantic partner. What’s most alarming is that these videos have millions of views, and metrics show that over a hundred thousand have been sold.

I usually reserve Security Bite for digital security topics, but this discovery was too riveting to ignore. As first reported by 404 Media, the trackers are being compared to Apple AirTags—but for the wrong reasons…

Video streaming platform TikTok is finally introducing community fact-checking, in the form of TikTok Footnotes – the equivalent to X’s Community Notes. This is initially available in the US only.

The company has also announced new parental controls, aimed at giving oversight of both TikTok consumption and uploads by teens …

The ongoing TikTok saga rumbles on, but a new report claims that we may be close to a resolution. It says US TikTok users will get their own version of the app, which will be owned by an American company.

The latest development happens shortly after we got sight of the letter sent to Apple to persuade the company to return TikTok to the App Store despite it being illegal to do so …

Tony Tan, a Google shareholder, has obtained and published a set of letters the Trump administration sent to multiple tech companies, essentially saying: don’t worry about the law, the president has your back, keep TikTok online.

However, Mr. Tan disagrees. And he’s taking legal action to prove it.

The White House confirmed today that President Donald Trump will sign a new executive order giving TikTok 90 days to avoid a U.S. ban. This marks the third time Trump has delayed enforcement of the law that technically went into effect in January.

Today, TikTok announced AI Alive, an AI filter that will allow users to animate static photos through prompts. ByteDance says that this new image-to-video feature undergoes multiple checks to avoid misuse, and its output will be labeled as AI-generated.

Here’s how to use it.

TikTok has told advertisers that it’s in the US to stay, stating that “we are here” and “are absolutely confident in our platform and confident in the future of this platform.”

The statement came after Trump indicated that he would extend the current enforcement pause again if needed, despite that fact that this is probably unlawful …