All posts tagged: TikTok

Montana completely bans TikTok across the state

Montana became the first US state to completely ban the downloading of the social media app, TikTok, for all its citizens, Fox News reports. The government had previously banned TikTok from being downloaded on government phones over concerns that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is closely connected to the Chinese Communist Party. Fox News explains the reason behind the ban: “Some lawmakers, the FBI and officials at other agencies are concerned the video-sharing app, owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance, could be used to allow the Chinese government to access information on American citizens or push pro-Beijing misinformation that could influence the public. TikTok says none of this has ever happened.“ The new law would fine any business and/or TikTok $10,000 each day that they allow people in the state to download the app. Users themselves would not be penalized for downloading the app. TikTok says it plans to challenge the legislation in court. Fox News adds that over half of the US states have banned the app on government-owned phones. READ: Montana becomes …

An Encounter with God is More Powerful than TikTok

By Dr. Michael Brown

The influence of TikTok on America’s young people has become so pervasive that this past February I asked, “Is China Using TikTok to Control the Minds of Our Children?” As outrageous as that question may sound to some, I only raised it because others had already drawn attention to the disparity between TikTok in China and TikTok in America.

EU orders removal of TikTok app from gov’t phones effective March 15, 2023

The European Union (EU) has just ordered all staff to remove the popular social media app, TikTok, from their government-provided phones by March 15th, Breitbart reports. In the email, sent out earlier this week, EU staff were also asked to remove the TikTok app from any personal devices, if they use them to conduct EU business. The removal is due to spying concerns because the Chinese company which owns TikTok, ByteDance, has close connections to the Chinese Communist Party. This follows a similar request by the Dutch government which asked bureaucrats to stay off the platform and is also considering banning the app for all government mobile phones. READ: EU Orders Commission Staff to Delete CCP-Linked TikTok From Phones by March 15th In early December, because of cyber-security concerns, Texas Governor Gregg Abbot ordered the removal of the TikTok app from all government-owned phones and devices, including computers. READ: Gov. Greg Abbott bans TikTok on state phones and computers, citing cybersecurity risks

Did the Chinese Communist Party use TikTok to target US politicians during the 2020 midterms?

According to a report by Forbes, the Chinese Communist Party is controlling several accounts on TikTok, that specifically targeted American politicians who lean politically to the right during the recent 2022 midterms. Breitbart provides more details: The TikTok accounts are being run by MediaLinks TV, a registered foreign agent of the primary Chinese Communist Party television news outlet, China Central Television, according to a report by Forbes. Many of the videos on the China-owned app attacked specific U.S. politicians ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. The largest of these propaganda accounts are @Pandaorama, @The…Optimist, and @NewsTokss. Before the U.S. midterm elections, @NewsTokss reportedly attacked Republican candidates and favored Democrat candidates. READ: Election Interference: TikTok Accounts Operated by Chinese Communist Party Push Divisive Videos About U.S. Politicians Of course, there have been growing security concerns about TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance, a corporation headquartered in China. READ: South Dakota governor bans TikTok for state agencies, warning of security threat In mid-November, FBI chief, Christopher Wray, warned the US Congress about growing security concerns about TikTok. The New York Post …

US FCC Commissioner calls for TikTok to be banned

TikTok, a short-form video-sharing platform, has quickly become one of the more popular social media apps in the world today. According to recent studies over 41% of its users are Gen Z (ages 16 to 24). But along with this, there are growing concerns about the app, and its connection to China and the Chinese Communist Party. In early November 2022, Brendan Carr, a commissioner for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stated that the US should ban TikTok in order to protect the data of American citizens. Fox News provides more details: Carr, one of the five commissioners who lead the FCC, argued in an interview with Axios that there is no way to have “sufficient confidence” that Americans’ data on the app is not being sent back to Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). TikTok is owned by the Chinese tech giant, ByteDance, and Chinese law mandates that companies share their data with the CCP upon request. […] That access is used frequently as well, as was revealed in an extensive report from BuzzFeed …

Was TikTok spying on its users?

For now, let’s just set aside the fact, that TikTok, one of the more popular social media apps in the world, is owned by a business in Communist China. TikTok is a popular video sharing app with about 800 million users and in some younger age groups it is starting to match YouTube in popularity.