China wanted to open TikTok account to promote propaganda: Report

According to a report, the Chinese government wanted to open an account on TikTok for propaganda purposes but was pushed back by the company since it was against its community guidelines.

A report in Bloomberg said the China-owned ByteDance was informed about China’s attempt to “promote content” which would “showcase the best side of China”. The account did not want to be openly seen as a government entity, the report claimed.

The request was deemed “sensitive” and the company declined the request, the report added.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Also Read:Pakman drives 1,400 kilometres to kill ex-wife for making TikTok videos on divorce

The development comes as US Republican Senators earlier had questioned TikTok’s data storage and access policies. TikTok had said last month that all of its data on US-based users were now stored on US-based servers operated by Oracle.

Watch:Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner urge Instagram to not copy TikTok

The company told US Senators that Chinese officials had never requested data on American users and that it would never be provided even if it is asked by Chinese officials. TikTok is under investigation by US officials over risk of foreign investments to US national security.

Former President Donald Trump had raised objections on TikTok’s security data and had tried to force ByteDance to sell its US subsidiary to Oracle. Trump had also issued an order to ban TikTok in America but it did not come into force and was revoked by President Joe Biden, however, the US president asked administration officials to look into risks associated with foreign ownership of social media websites and apps.

TikTok had said Oracle will store all the data from its US users even withBiden administration officials keen to investigate the company. Reports say TikTok has created a new US data security to strengthen its protection policies in a bid to allay security fears.

(With inputs from Agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE