In June 2020, TikTok users and K-pop fans « claimed to have registered potentially hundreds of thousands of tickets » for Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma through communication on TikTok, contributing to « rows of empty seats » at the event. However, it has received criticism for not paying royalties to artists whose music is used on the platform. TikTok has allowed many music artists to gain a wider audience, often including foreign fans.
It covers the « top 4% of all videos on TikTok » and is only available to creators with more than 100,000 followers. In October 2021, TikTok launched a test feature that allows users to directly tip certain creators. Private content remains visible to TikTok but is blocked from TikTok users who the account holder has not authorized to view their content. TikTok’s algorithm leverages this insight to present similar content, creating an environment that users often find hard to disengage from. While typical platforms focus on active user actions like likes, clicks, or follows, TikTok monitors a wider array of behaviors during video viewing.

TikTok – Videos, Shop & LIVE

The study compares data from before TikTok even existed to show the app has fewer hashtags about historically sensitive topics, distorting the findings. They have been replaced by versions customized by local teams for users in different regions. TikTok moderators were instructed to suppress posts from « For You » recommendations if the users shown were deemed « too ugly, poor, or disabled ». Other human rights activists have also said that their TikTok videos discussing human rights violations of the Uyghurs have been taken down.

• In 2020, Fleetwood Mac’s « Dreams » was used in a skating video and a recreation by Mick Fleetwood.
• The company’s survey reported that nearly 50% of social media users find it stressful to watch a video longer than a minute and a third of users watch videos at double speed.
• In April 2023, the ICO imposed a £12.7 million fine on TikTok for misusing children’s data.
• In a November 2022 update to its European privacy policy, TikTok stated that its global corporate group employees from China and other countries could gain remote access to the user information of accounts from Europe based on « demonstrated need ».
• Furthermore, The Wall Street Journal in 2021 highlighted its superiority over other social media platforms in understanding users’ preferences and emotions.

Project Texas

The Ministry of Education (Taiwan) has warned against the harmful impact of TikTok and related app RedNote on body image and ensuing self harm related to weight loss especially in teenagers. As of March 2025update, strong scientific understanding of TikTok’s effects on user’s mental health « remains elusive ». In 2021, the platform revealed that it will be introducing a feature that will prevent teenagers from receiving notifications past their bedtime. Additionally, the app features a dashboard with statistics on how often the app is opened, how much time is spent browsing it and when the browsing occurs.

YouTube Kids

This led many creators to stop creating new content which they were not already contractually obligated to create. In December 2022, it was reported that a cosmetic surgery procedure known as buccal fat removal was going viral on the platform. TikTok has banned the advertising of cosmetic surgeries on the platform but cosmetic surgeons are still able to reach large audiences using unpaid photo and video posts. In April 2022, NBC News reported that surgeons were giving influencers on the platform discounted or free cosmetic surgeries in order to advertise the procedures to their audiences. By January 2021, the hashtag #nosejob had accumulated 1.6 billion views, #nosejobcheck had accumulated 1 billion views, and the audio used in the #NoseJobCheck trend had been used in 120,000 videos. Realistic videos about how differently pieces of garment fit on a model compared to how they fit on a typical consumer resonated with many who had believed that they were alone in their struggle.
It hosts user-submitted videos, which range in duration from three seconds to 60 minutes. The developer, TikTok Ltd., indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. ■ Explore videos, just one scroll awayWatch all types of videos, from Comedy, Gaming, DIY, Food, Sports, Memes, and Pets, to Oddly Satisfying, ASMR, and everything in between. TikTok offers you real, interesting, and fun videos that will make your day.
The ruhtinas company has been engaged in confidential negotiations over the project with CFIUS since 2021 and submitted its proposal but received little response from the panel afterward. Physical locations would be established so that Oracle and the US government could conduct their own reviews. This applies to those signing contracts with and receiving payment transactions from ByteDance. The whistleblower claimed in a sworn court statement that his father in mainland China had been detained by the authorities in retaliation for his speaking to the media about alleged censorship by TikTok.

• This led many creators to stop creating new content which they were not already contractually obligated to create.
• It is reported that TikTok Music features songs from major record companies like Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group.
• TikTok was downloaded over 104 million times on Apple’s App Store during the first half of 2018, according to data provided to CNBC by Sensor Tower.
• In 2021, The New York Times reported that viral TikTok videos by young people relating the emotional impact of books on them, tagged with the label « BookTok », significantly drove sales of literature.
• He claimed the evidence may prove the company’s involvement in « human smuggling, sex trafficking and drug trafficking ».
• In October 2022, TikTok was reported to be planning an expansion into the e-commerce market in the US, following the launch of TikTok Shop in the United Kingdom.
• In December 2023, BBC News reported that it had discovered nearly 800 fake TikTok accounts promoting Russian propaganda and disinformation.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

In January 2020, Check Point Research discovered a vulnerability through which a hacker could spoof TikTok’s official SMS messages and replace them with malicious links to gain access to user accounts. TikTok has faced criticism for transferring European user data to servers in the United States. A data scientist said US user data were emailed to ByteDance workers in China to identify viewer interests. It would also digitally sign software code, approve updates, and oversee content moderation and recommendation. A 2024 unclassified threat assessment by the Director of National Intelligence said « TikTok accounts run by a Chinese propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates » during the 2022 United States elections. Whether similar information will remain exempt from being treated as « protected user data » is being negotiated with Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

Douyin includes an in-video search feature that can search by people’s faces for more videos of them, along with other features such as buying, booking hotels, and making geo-tagged reviews. While TikTok and Douyin share a similar user interface, the platforms operate separately. TikTok has come under scrutiny due to data privacy violations, mental health concerns, misinformation, offensive content, addictive algorithm, and its role during the Gaza war. The popularity of TikTok has allowed viral trends in food, fashion, and music to take off and increase the platform’s cultural impact worldwide.
To combat misinformation in the 2022 midterm election in the US, TikTok announced a midterms Elections Center available in-app to users in 40 different languages. It reported that in the second half of 2020, over 340,000 videos in the US about election misinformation and 50,000 videos of COVID-19 misinformation were removed. In April 2020, the government of India asked TikTok to remove users posting misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. TikTok responded by taking down videos with content that violated their community guidelines.
On 22 January 2026, US President Donald Trump and TikTok announced that the company had joined a joint venture, which will run as an independent entity while operate under defined safeguards that protect national security for US users. A new subsidiary, TikTok US Data Security Inc. (USDS), was created to manage user data, software code, back-end systems, and content moderation. In response to security concerns of the United States government, TikTok has been working to silo privileged user data within the United States under oversight from the US government or a third party such as Oracle. In June 2022, BuzzFeed News reported that leaked audio recordings of internal TikTok meetings reveal employees in China had access to overseas data, including a « master admin » who could see « everything ». TikTok said it does not give information to China’s government and « US user data » is stored within the country with backups in Singapore. Lawmakers also « hammered » TikTok about whether consumer data could be turned over to the Chinese government through ByteDance, its parent company in China.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Silicon Valley executives met with US lawmakers to build an « anti-China alliance » before TikTok CEO’s congressional hearing in March 2023. In March 2024, The Information reported that it is an open secret among investors that TikTok loses billions of dollars annually. According to sources for The Wall Street Journal, the personnel move led to concerns from some TikTok employees and was reported to the office of US senator Ted Cruz for further investigation.