A one-hour daily TikTok screen time limit will be set by default for users below 18 years of age, says the company. The move coincides with the White House setting a 30-day deadline for federal employees to remove the app from government devices …
The link between teen girls’ mental health and social media usage is not just correlational, argues an NYU-Stern professor: There is now solid evidence that it is causal.
The argument coincides with the European Union banning TikTok from official devices, following similar moves in the US …
In a somewhat ironic move, a new TikTok Creativity Program asks creators on the short-form video app to make videos longer than one minute, to be eligible for higher earnings …
TikTok and Instagram have become competitors as both platforms have been investing heavily in short vertical videos. However, both platforms offer more than that – and while Instagram has decided to move away from offering shopping experiences, TikTok is now working on shopping features for brands.
The infamous TikTok algorithm, which has been accused of taking users into dangerous rabbit holes, could be shared with US officials, says the company. TikTok owner ByteDance is hoping that the offer of transparency will fend off further bans of the Chinese video sharing app.
Not everyone is convinced that the offer goes far enough, however …
A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee has called on both Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their respective app stores.
The demand follows growing concerns about the Chinese-owned app, with the video sharing app already banned from US federal government devices, along with those in more than half of US states …
TikTok is essentially a video platform. But with the number of users growing every day combined with increasing competition from other apps, it’s no surprise that TikTok has been working on catching up with other social networks in more ways. And TikTok’s next move is to let users receive direct messages from anyone, just like Instagram.
The popular social network TikTok has been the target of spying accusations by the US government for quite some time due to its Chinese origins. And while TikTok was never actually banned from the United States, the government doesn’t seem happy about the app’s existence. The US House of Representatives has now ruled that government devices are not allowed to have TikTok installed.
Update: TikTok says it is today launching a new tool to provide greater transparency on how videos are added to a user’s feed. For any video, you can tap the Share panel then the question-mark icon called “Why this video?”. So far, it appears only very generic reasons are being offered – like “This video is popular in the United States” – but the company is promising greater granularity later …
Opera is out with an update today that puts TikTok into the sidebar of its desktop browser. The company says it got strong feedback from users about wanting the feature and now it’s here to help you “multitask” and more.
TikTok gaming has so far been a very small part of the streaming video app, but the company is said to be just days away from announcing an “enormous” push into the games market …
Update: Boone has stated that there was no connection between the video and her contract not being renewed. She said that she worked the entirety of her contract period, and “remain[s] thankful for my career opportunities and growth from working at Apple, and how that helped pave the way for the wonderful job I have today.“
An Apple contractor reportedly found her contract “unexpectedly” not renewed after a day-in-the-life TikTok video went viral.
Nylah Boone’s “Day in the life of a Black girl working in tech” video didn’t reveal any secret goings-on within the company but did feature footage inside her office at Apple – as you can see below …
TikTok announced on Thursday an update to its app that adds new tools for editing and adjusting videos. Users will now be able to adjust clips, sounds, images, and even text right from TikTok without having to leave the social network to use third-party apps.
An announcement this morning has seen all TikTok election fundraising banned by the platform. Politicians and parties will not be able to use the short-form video app to solicit funds for the midterms, and they will also have all forms of monetization switched off …
TikTok has announced a new feature that’s a blatant clone of the viral BeReal photo-sharing app. Branded as “TikTok Now,” the company says that this feature “brings the authenticity of TikTok to a whole new creative experience that connects you with those closest to you.”
Execs from four tech giants were called before the Senate Homeland Security Committee yesterday. The Senate questioned Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter on safety, privacy, misinformation, and more.
Apple CEO Tim Cook was also seen in the building, but he did not appear before the committee …
A few days ago, a hacker group known as “AgainstTheWest” shared a post on a hacking forum claiming to have found security breaches in TikTok and WeChat. However, despite what the group says, TikTok has officially denied all reports about hackers having leaked its source code and sensitive user data.
A growing number of TikTok mental health videos are posted by people with no qualifications, and the information they post is often inaccurate and irresponsible, say experts …
The popular short video platform TikTok currently has two different feeds available to users. While the main “For You” feed features a mix of suggestions and content from accounts you follow, the “Following” feed focuses on videos from your friends. However, users may soon have access to a third feed called “Nearby.”
An official survey in the UK shows that TikTok has replaced TV as the most popular entertainment source for young adults, while a separate Pew study reveals that 95% of US teens watch YouTube, many of them “almost constantly.”
Use of both apps and streaming services has dramatically changed the landscape for broadcast television …
Fears about midterm election disinformation have led both Meta and TikTok to outline the defensive measures they plan to deploy. It follows a disastrous experience in 2016, when Facebook unwittingly sold political ad space to disinformation agents working on behalf of Russia.
Meta subsequently put in place protections for the 2020 elections, and says that it will maintain the strategies shown to be effective, as well as improving on them …
Apple is reportedly threatening to fire an employee over her posting a TikTok with iPhone security tips and advice. As first spotted by The Verge, the employee was told that she “breached company policy” by identifying herself as an Apple employee in a video about Apple products.
A report shows that even after the days of lockdowns have long passed, mobile usage is still growing in the US and several other countries. TikTok is the most consumed app worldwide, while Instagram is the most downloaded in Q2 of 2022.