Forwarded from BlackBox (Security) Archiv
TikTok: Cheerfulness and censorship
Never before has a #platform grown as fast as TikTok. We have gained exclusive insight into its content moderation and are publishing excerpts from its moderation rules: TikTok operates a sophisticated system to identify, #control, #suppress and direct content. The platform can throttle videos of #protests and #demonstrations according to its rules.
No #app has been downloaded as often as TikTok in the past year. The video sharing platform is growing rapidly. In November 2019, TikTok broke the 1 billion-user barrier – faster than any other social network ever before. The video app and its culture are currently so popular with children and young people that even the Tagesschau (the major German public TV News programme) now has its own account there.
However, #research by netzpolitik.org shows that TikTok is currently able to #suppress videos of political protests and demonstrations and additionally determine which content is visible, through a variety of means.
☣️ Exclusive insight into content moderation
For this research, netzpolitik.org spoke to a source at #TikTok, looked at moderation criteria and communications, and experimented with specially created accounts to see how well videos with China-critical content are visible on the platform.
TikToks moderation rules, of which netzpolitik.org was able to see different versions, are remarkably thin and widely interpretable – even for the moderators themselves. The strategy, however, is clear: certain content is given the widest possible reach, while others are systematically suppressed.
The successful platform belongs to the #Chinese #technology company #ByteDance. Already in September, the Guardian reported on leaked documents that detailed how TikTok censored political statements on the #Tiananmen #massacre or the independence of #Tibet. The protests in Hong Kong, which are currently attracting worldwide media attention, are virtually invisible on TikTok between selfies and singalongs, even though the app is available in Hong Kong.
Read more:
https://netzpolitik.org/2019/cheerfulness-and-censorship/
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Never before has a #platform grown as fast as TikTok. We have gained exclusive insight into its content moderation and are publishing excerpts from its moderation rules: TikTok operates a sophisticated system to identify, #control, #suppress and direct content. The platform can throttle videos of #protests and #demonstrations according to its rules.
No #app has been downloaded as often as TikTok in the past year. The video sharing platform is growing rapidly. In November 2019, TikTok broke the 1 billion-user barrier – faster than any other social network ever before. The video app and its culture are currently so popular with children and young people that even the Tagesschau (the major German public TV News programme) now has its own account there.
However, #research by netzpolitik.org shows that TikTok is currently able to #suppress videos of political protests and demonstrations and additionally determine which content is visible, through a variety of means.
☣️ Exclusive insight into content moderation
For this research, netzpolitik.org spoke to a source at #TikTok, looked at moderation criteria and communications, and experimented with specially created accounts to see how well videos with China-critical content are visible on the platform.
TikToks moderation rules, of which netzpolitik.org was able to see different versions, are remarkably thin and widely interpretable – even for the moderators themselves. The strategy, however, is clear: certain content is given the widest possible reach, while others are systematically suppressed.
The successful platform belongs to the #Chinese #technology company #ByteDance. Already in September, the Guardian reported on leaked documents that detailed how TikTok censored political statements on the #Tiananmen #massacre or the independence of #Tibet. The protests in Hong Kong, which are currently attracting worldwide media attention, are virtually invisible on TikTok between selfies and singalongs, even though the app is available in Hong Kong.
Read more:
https://netzpolitik.org/2019/cheerfulness-and-censorship/
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📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_ES
Why Microsoft wants TikTok
At first glance, a Microsoft acquisition of TikTok seems a little unusual. Microsoft has spent years walking back consumer plays like the Groove Music service, the Kinect Xbox accessory, its Microsoft Band fitness device, Windows Phone, and more recently the Mixer streaming service. Microsoft has been favoring its enterprise software and services, and even Cortana has transitioned to be productivity-focused. How does a service that caters to dancing teenagers fit with Microsoft’s buttoned-up business demographic?
If you dig a little deeper into Microsoft’s future ambitions, though, a move to acquire TikTok’s operations in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand could benefit many of Microsoft’s existing businesses while also setting the company up as a real competitor to YouTube and Facebook.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/3/21352309/microsoft-tiktok-acquisition-deal-why-us-countries-data
#us #microsoft #bytedance #tiktok
At first glance, a Microsoft acquisition of TikTok seems a little unusual. Microsoft has spent years walking back consumer plays like the Groove Music service, the Kinect Xbox accessory, its Microsoft Band fitness device, Windows Phone, and more recently the Mixer streaming service. Microsoft has been favoring its enterprise software and services, and even Cortana has transitioned to be productivity-focused. How does a service that caters to dancing teenagers fit with Microsoft’s buttoned-up business demographic?
If you dig a little deeper into Microsoft’s future ambitions, though, a move to acquire TikTok’s operations in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand could benefit many of Microsoft’s existing businesses while also setting the company up as a real competitor to YouTube and Facebook.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/3/21352309/microsoft-tiktok-acquisition-deal-why-us-countries-data
#us #microsoft #bytedance #tiktok
Exclusive: ByteDance censored anti-China content in Indonesia until mid-2020, say sources
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Chinese tech giant ByteDance censored content it perceived as critical of the Chinese government on its news aggregator app in Indonesia from 2018 to mid-2020, six people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The sources said that local moderators were instructed by a team from ByteDance’s Beijing headquarters to delete articles seen as “negative” about Chinese authorities on the Baca Berita (BaBe) app.
In a statement to Reuters, BaBe said it disagreed with the claims and that it moderates content according to its community guidelines and in line with Indonesia’s local laws.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tiktok-indonesia-exclusive/exclusive-bytedance-censored-anti-china-content-in-indonesia-until-mid-2020-say-sources-idUSKCN2591ML
#Asia #China #ByteDance #TikTok #Indonesia #BaBe
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Chinese tech giant ByteDance censored content it perceived as critical of the Chinese government on its news aggregator app in Indonesia from 2018 to mid-2020, six people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The sources said that local moderators were instructed by a team from ByteDance’s Beijing headquarters to delete articles seen as “negative” about Chinese authorities on the Baca Berita (BaBe) app.
In a statement to Reuters, BaBe said it disagreed with the claims and that it moderates content according to its community guidelines and in line with Indonesia’s local laws.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tiktok-indonesia-exclusive/exclusive-bytedance-censored-anti-china-content-in-indonesia-until-mid-2020-say-sources-idUSKCN2591ML
#Asia #China #ByteDance #TikTok #Indonesia #BaBe
ByteDance in talks with India’s Reliance for investment in TikTok
Chinese giant ByteDance is engaging in early discussions with Reliance Industries Limited for backing TikTok’s business in India in a move to potentially save the popular video app’s fate in its biggest market by users, two people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
TikTok has been banned in India since June 29 as a fallout of geo-political tensions with China that led New Delhi to block the app along with 58 other Chinese apps over security and privacy concerns.
India was TikTok’s largest market outside of China with over 200 million users. ByteDance employs 2,000 people in the country whose fate hangs on the company’s ability to either convince the government to allow them to operate or sell itself.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/12/bytedance-in-talks-with-indias-reliance-for-investment-in-tiktok/
#Asia #India #Jio #ByteDance #TikTok
Chinese giant ByteDance is engaging in early discussions with Reliance Industries Limited for backing TikTok’s business in India in a move to potentially save the popular video app’s fate in its biggest market by users, two people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
TikTok has been banned in India since June 29 as a fallout of geo-political tensions with China that led New Delhi to block the app along with 58 other Chinese apps over security and privacy concerns.
India was TikTok’s largest market outside of China with over 200 million users. ByteDance employs 2,000 people in the country whose fate hangs on the company’s ability to either convince the government to allow them to operate or sell itself.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/12/bytedance-in-talks-with-indias-reliance-for-investment-in-tiktok/
#Asia #India #Jio #ByteDance #TikTok
All Of My TikTok Followers Are Fake
By buying followers, likes, and views, our own shoddy TikTok video climbed up the hashtag rankings.
The followers poured in. Then the likes. Then tens of thousands of people watched my TikTok video. The clip itself was of a few Motherboard staffers winning a match in the hugely popular game Call of Duty: Warzone; TikTok is full of streamers and players uploading their wins or soul-crushing loses.
The video itself isn't good—there's no slick editing, no captivating TikTok personality talking to camera, and certainly no dancing—but in a few short hours the video accumulated 25,000 views and over 1,000 likes. This is very little engagement compared to the most popular videos on TikTok, but it's not bad for my first ever clip uploaded to the platform. The video climbed through the rankings of one of the Warzone-related hashtags people use to share their games.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z3e8na/get-buy-tiktok-followers-likes-views-cheap-easy
#ByteDance #TikTok
By buying followers, likes, and views, our own shoddy TikTok video climbed up the hashtag rankings.
The followers poured in. Then the likes. Then tens of thousands of people watched my TikTok video. The clip itself was of a few Motherboard staffers winning a match in the hugely popular game Call of Duty: Warzone; TikTok is full of streamers and players uploading their wins or soul-crushing loses.
The video itself isn't good—there's no slick editing, no captivating TikTok personality talking to camera, and certainly no dancing—but in a few short hours the video accumulated 25,000 views and over 1,000 likes. This is very little engagement compared to the most popular videos on TikTok, but it's not bad for my first ever clip uploaded to the platform. The video climbed through the rankings of one of the Warzone-related hashtags people use to share their games.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z3e8na/get-buy-tiktok-followers-likes-views-cheap-easy
#ByteDance #TikTok
Vice
All Of My TikTok Followers Are Fake
By buying followers, likes, and views, our own shoddy TikTok video climbed up the hashtag rankings.
Forwarded from BlackBox (Security) Archiv
EO-on-TikTok-8-14-20.pdf
261.8 KB
Trump forces Tiktok owner Bytedance to reverse the Musical.ly acquisition
On Friday evening US President Donald Trump signed an order forcing the Tiktok owner Bytedance to reverse the 2017 acquisition of the US video service Musical.ly or to destroy all US data.
👀 👉🏼 PDF:
https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/EO-on-TikTok-8-14-20.pdf
#TikTok #DeleteTikTok #bytedance #musically #USA #ToddlerTrump #pdf
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On Friday evening US President Donald Trump signed an order forcing the Tiktok owner Bytedance to reverse the 2017 acquisition of the US video service Musical.ly or to destroy all US data.
👀 👉🏼 PDF:
https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/EO-on-TikTok-8-14-20.pdf
#TikTok #DeleteTikTok #bytedance #musically #USA #ToddlerTrump #pdf
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Forwarded from BlackBox (Security) Archiv
Trump may exert pressure on other Chinese firms like Alibaba after TikTok ban
US ordered its Chinese owner ByteDance on Friday to divest the U.S. operations of TikTok within 90 days, the latest effort to ramp up pressure over concerns about the safety of the personal data it handles.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he could exert pressure on more Chinese companies such as technology giant Alibaba after he moved to ban TikTok.
Asked at a news conference whether there were other particular China-owned companies he was considering a ban on, such as Alibaba, Trump replied: "Well, we're looking at other things, yes."
Trump has been piling pressure on Chinese-owned companies, such as by vowing to ban short-video app TikTok from the United States. The United States ordered its Chinese owner ByteDance on Friday to divest the U.S. operations of TikTok within 90 days, the latest effort to ramp up pressure over concerns about the safety of the personal data it handles.
Trump, who has made changing the US-China trade relationship a central theme of his presidency, has been sharply critical of China while also praising its purchases of agriculture products such as soybeans and corn as part of a trade agreement reached late last year.
👀 👉🏼 🇬🇧 https://www.businesstoday.in/current/world/trump-may-exert-pressure-on-other-chinese-firms-like-alibaba-after-tiktok-ban/story/413099.html
👀 👉🏼 🇩🇪 https://t3n.de/news/trump-verbot-tiktok-alibaba-1312124
#bytedance #DeleteTikTok #alibaba #USA #ToddlerTrump
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📡@NoGoolag
US ordered its Chinese owner ByteDance on Friday to divest the U.S. operations of TikTok within 90 days, the latest effort to ramp up pressure over concerns about the safety of the personal data it handles.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he could exert pressure on more Chinese companies such as technology giant Alibaba after he moved to ban TikTok.
Asked at a news conference whether there were other particular China-owned companies he was considering a ban on, such as Alibaba, Trump replied: "Well, we're looking at other things, yes."
Trump has been piling pressure on Chinese-owned companies, such as by vowing to ban short-video app TikTok from the United States. The United States ordered its Chinese owner ByteDance on Friday to divest the U.S. operations of TikTok within 90 days, the latest effort to ramp up pressure over concerns about the safety of the personal data it handles.
Trump, who has made changing the US-China trade relationship a central theme of his presidency, has been sharply critical of China while also praising its purchases of agriculture products such as soybeans and corn as part of a trade agreement reached late last year.
👀 👉🏼 🇬🇧 https://www.businesstoday.in/current/world/trump-may-exert-pressure-on-other-chinese-firms-like-alibaba-after-tiktok-ban/story/413099.html
👀 👉🏼 🇩🇪 https://t3n.de/news/trump-verbot-tiktok-alibaba-1312124
#bytedance #DeleteTikTok #alibaba #USA #ToddlerTrump
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Business Today
Trump may exert pressure on other Chinese firms like Alibaba after TikTok ban
US ordered its Chinese owner ByteDance on Friday to divest the U.S. operations of TikTok within 90 days, the latest effort to ramp up pressure over concerns about the safety of the personal data it handles
Forwarded from BlackBox (Security) Archiv
Exclusive: ByteDance asks TikTok to draw up U.S. shutdown contingencies
(Reuters) - China’s ByteDance told engineers of its popular short-video app TikTok this week to make contingencies should it need to shut down its U.S. operations, even as it works toward divesting them, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
ByteDance has been ordered by President Donald Trump to divest TikTok in the United States, amid security concerns over the personal data it handles. Microsoft Corp and Oracle Corp are among U.S. companies vying to acquire the assets of TikTok, which claims about 100 million monthly active users in the U.S. ByteDance is expected to pick a bidder to enter into exclusive talks as early as Friday, according to the sources.
Trump issued an executive order on Aug. 6 that would ban transactions with TikTok and its Chinese parent in 45 days. While TikTok has filed a lawsuit challenging the order, it is preparing for the possibility that it will have to shut down if it has not reached a deal with an acquirer by mid-September, the sources said. It hopes that any shutdown would be temporary, the sources added.
A sale would have to be greenlighted by both the United States and Chinese governments. The shutdown contingencies are also aimed at preparing TikTok’s global operations for the possibility that one of the two countries blocks any deal, the sources said.
ByteDance told TikTok engineers in a memo this week to draw up plans for shutting down the app in the United States, the sources said.
👀 👉🏼 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tiktok-shutdown-exclusive/exclusive-bytedance-asks-tiktok-to-draw-up-u-s-shutdown-contingencies-sources-idUSKBN25N2ZS
👀 👉🏼 🇩🇪 https://t3n.de/news/einstellungsstopp-tiktok-1317065/
#tiktok #DeleteTikTok #bytedance #china #usa #trump #ToddlerTrump
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(Reuters) - China’s ByteDance told engineers of its popular short-video app TikTok this week to make contingencies should it need to shut down its U.S. operations, even as it works toward divesting them, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
ByteDance has been ordered by President Donald Trump to divest TikTok in the United States, amid security concerns over the personal data it handles. Microsoft Corp and Oracle Corp are among U.S. companies vying to acquire the assets of TikTok, which claims about 100 million monthly active users in the U.S. ByteDance is expected to pick a bidder to enter into exclusive talks as early as Friday, according to the sources.
Trump issued an executive order on Aug. 6 that would ban transactions with TikTok and its Chinese parent in 45 days. While TikTok has filed a lawsuit challenging the order, it is preparing for the possibility that it will have to shut down if it has not reached a deal with an acquirer by mid-September, the sources said. It hopes that any shutdown would be temporary, the sources added.
A sale would have to be greenlighted by both the United States and Chinese governments. The shutdown contingencies are also aimed at preparing TikTok’s global operations for the possibility that one of the two countries blocks any deal, the sources said.
ByteDance told TikTok engineers in a memo this week to draw up plans for shutting down the app in the United States, the sources said.
👀 👉🏼 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tiktok-shutdown-exclusive/exclusive-bytedance-asks-tiktok-to-draw-up-u-s-shutdown-contingencies-sources-idUSKBN25N2ZS
👀 👉🏼 🇩🇪 https://t3n.de/news/einstellungsstopp-tiktok-1317065/
#tiktok #DeleteTikTok #bytedance #china #usa #trump #ToddlerTrump
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Reuters
Exclusive: ByteDance asks TikTok to draw up U.S. shutdown contingencies
(Reuters) - China’s ByteDance told engineers of its popular short-video app TikTok this week to make contingencies should it need to shut down its U.S. operations, even as it works toward divesting them, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Forwarded from BlackBox (Security) Archiv
Breaking: USA bans WeChat and TikTok from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store
Starting from September 20, 2020
The US Commerce Department has announced prohibitions banning people in the US from downloading TikTok and WeChat in reponse to a pair of executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump in August.
In a press release on the matter, the US Department of Commerce noted: “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has demonstrated the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the U.S. Today’s announced prohibitions, when combined, protect users in the U.S. by eliminating access to these applications and significantly reducing their functionality.”
Speaking on the matter, US Department of Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, was quoted saying, “Today’s actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threads of the Chinese Communist Party…At the President’s direction, we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data, while promoting our national values, democratic rules-based norms, and aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws and regulations.”
The new prohibitions on TikTok and WeChat will go into effect on September 20th, 2020. As part of the new directive, the following transactions are prohibited:
1. Any provision of service to distribute or maintain the WeChat or TikTok mobile applications, constituent code, or application updates through an online mobile application store in the U.S.
2. Any provision of services through the WeChat mobile application for the purpose of transferring funds or processing payments within the U.S.
👀 👉🏼 https://www.xda-developers.com/usa-bans-wechat-tiktok-google-play-store-apple-app-store/
#usa #ban #tiktok #wechat #DeleteTikTok #bytedance
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📡@BlackBox_Archiv
📡@NoGoolag
Starting from September 20, 2020
The US Commerce Department has announced prohibitions banning people in the US from downloading TikTok and WeChat in reponse to a pair of executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump in August.
In a press release on the matter, the US Department of Commerce noted: “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has demonstrated the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the U.S. Today’s announced prohibitions, when combined, protect users in the U.S. by eliminating access to these applications and significantly reducing their functionality.”
Speaking on the matter, US Department of Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, was quoted saying, “Today’s actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threads of the Chinese Communist Party…At the President’s direction, we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data, while promoting our national values, democratic rules-based norms, and aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws and regulations.”
The new prohibitions on TikTok and WeChat will go into effect on September 20th, 2020. As part of the new directive, the following transactions are prohibited:
1. Any provision of service to distribute or maintain the WeChat or TikTok mobile applications, constituent code, or application updates through an online mobile application store in the U.S.
2. Any provision of services through the WeChat mobile application for the purpose of transferring funds or processing payments within the U.S.
👀 👉🏼 https://www.xda-developers.com/usa-bans-wechat-tiktok-google-play-store-apple-app-store/
#usa #ban #tiktok #wechat #DeleteTikTok #bytedance
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📡@BlackBox_Archiv
📡@NoGoolag
XDA Developers
[Update: Temp. relief] USA bans WeChat and TikTok from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store
The US Department of Commerce has announced prohibitions on transactions related to WeChat and TikTok, effectively removing the apps from distribution.
TikTok wants to keep tracking iPhone users with state-backed workaround
They want to keep tracking iPhone users with solution created by state-backed group.
Some of China’s biggest technology companies, including ByteDance and Tencent, are testing a tool to bypass Apple’s new privacy rules and continue tracking iPhone users without their consent to serve them targeted mobile advertisements.
Apple is expected in the coming weeks to roll out changes it announced last June to iPhones that it says will give users more privacy. Until now, apps have been able to rely on Apple’s IDFA system to see who clicks on ads and which apps are downloaded.
In the future, they will have to ask permission to gather tracking data, a change that is expected to deal a multibillion-dollar bombshell to the online advertising industry and has been fought by Facebook, since most users are expected to decline to be tracked.
In response, the state-backed China Advertising Association, which has 2,000 members, has launched a new way to track and identify iPhone users called CAID, which is being widely tested by tech companies and advertisers in the country.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/chinas-tech-giants-test-way-around-apples-new-privacy-rules/
#bytedance #tiktok #apple #iphone #privacy
They want to keep tracking iPhone users with solution created by state-backed group.
Some of China’s biggest technology companies, including ByteDance and Tencent, are testing a tool to bypass Apple’s new privacy rules and continue tracking iPhone users without their consent to serve them targeted mobile advertisements.
Apple is expected in the coming weeks to roll out changes it announced last June to iPhones that it says will give users more privacy. Until now, apps have been able to rely on Apple’s IDFA system to see who clicks on ads and which apps are downloaded.
In the future, they will have to ask permission to gather tracking data, a change that is expected to deal a multibillion-dollar bombshell to the online advertising industry and has been fought by Facebook, since most users are expected to decline to be tracked.
In response, the state-backed China Advertising Association, which has 2,000 members, has launched a new way to track and identify iPhone users called CAID, which is being widely tested by tech companies and advertisers in the country.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/chinas-tech-giants-test-way-around-apples-new-privacy-rules/
#bytedance #tiktok #apple #iphone #privacy
Ars Technica
TikTok wants to keep tracking iPhone users with state-backed workaround
They want to keep tracking iPhone users with solution created by state-backed group.