Leaked inner paperwork present TikTok is actively instructing staff to “downplay the China affiliation” to deflect rising media scrutiny over the video-sharing app’s Beijing-based proprietor.
The paperwork, labeled “TikTok Grasp Messaging” and “TikTok Key Messages,” element the social media large’s public relations technique throughout a interval of mounting scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers over its mother or father firm ByteDance and its ties to the Chinese language Group Social gathering.
In bullet factors close to the highest of the grasp messaging doc, TikTok’s PR private are instructed to “downplay the mother or father firm ByteDance,” “downplay the China affiliation” and “downplay AI.”
As an alternative, the workers are informed to “emphasize TikTok as a model/platform” of its personal, Gizmodo reported.
The identical doc advises TikTok staff to say no touch upon questions associated to ByteDance and to emphasise that the app is “just for customers aged 13 and over.”
Within the “key messages” doc, TikTok press officers are given particular responses to make use of if requested in regards to the firm’s China ties or relationship with ByteDance. Gizmodo famous that the responses have appeared in TikTok-related stories from a number of retailers, in addition to on the corporate’s weblog.
“We have now not and won't share person information with the Chinese language authorities, and wouldn't accomplish that if requested,” one of many responses mentioned.
“There’s plenty of misinformation about TikTok proper now. The fact is that the TikTok app isn’t even out there in China,” one other response mentioned.
A separate report from Buzzfeed mentioned that ByteDance used one other app, the now-shuttered English language information app, to push optimistic tales in regards to the Chinese language authorities whereas blocking damaging protection.
The report cited accounts from 4 former staff of TikTok’s mother or father firm. ByteDance strongly rejected the report.
“The declare that TopBuzz — which was discontinued years in the past — pinned pro-Chinese language authorities content material to the highest of the app or labored to market it is fake and ridiculous,” a spokesperson mentioned.
The Put up has reached out to TikTok for additional touch upon the stories.
TikTok has confronted regular public scrutiny over its ties to the Chinese language authorities because the social media app has surged in reputation lately.
Lawmakers and regulators from each events have lengthy feared that China may have backdoor entry to TikTok person information and use it to eavesdrop on Individuals. The Trump administration almost banned the app completely, however the effort was blocked by a federal decide.
Final month, leaked audio recordings from dozens of inner TikTok conferences revealed that the corporate’s Beijing-based mother or father firm may have larger entry to the non-public information of US customers than beforehand recognized.
The report detailed a September 2021 assembly wherein one TikTok government referred to a ByteDance engineer primarily based in China as a “grasp admin” with “entry to the whole lot” on the app. In a separate assembly, an worker of TikTok’s Belief and Security Division purportedly mentioned “the whole lot is seen in China.”
TikTok just lately migrated its US person information to servers run by Oracle. The corporate is adamant that it has taken steps to guard the privateness of TikTok customers.
“We make use of entry controls like encryption and safety monitoring to safe person information, and the entry approval course of is overseen by our US-based safety workforce,” a TikTok spokesperson mentioned final month.
“TikTok has constantly maintained that our engineers in places outdoors of the US, together with China, could be granted entry to US person information on an as-needed foundation below these strict controls,” the spokesperson added.
Days after Buzzfeed’s bombshell report on the audio recordings, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr known as for TikTok to be eliminated from the Apple and Google app shops. Carr known as the corporate a wolf in “sheep’s clothes” that posed an “unacceptable nationwide safety danger.”
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