TikTok suspends live streaming in Russia citing new fake news law

 Chinese video-sharing app TikTok has suspended live streaming and new content to video services in Russia after introduction of new fake news law in the country that threatened jail of up to 15 years

Chinese video-sharing app TikTok has suspended livestreaming and new content to video services in Russia following the introduction of new ‘fake news’ law in the country that threatened jail terms of up to 15 years. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a federal law criminalizing the spread of disinformation about the Russian armed forces, their defamation, as well as the calls for sanctions against Russia. Global news media including CNN and BBC said they were suspending their operations to protect their journalists from the new law.

“However, our highest priority is the safety of our employees and our users, and in light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend livestreaming and new content to our video service in Russia while we review the safety implications of this law,” the streaming app said in a statement. The company said that they will continue to evaluate the evolving circumstances in Russia to determine when we might fully resume our services with safety as our top priority….Russia ukraine Conflicts

Oracle to take charge of TikTok’s US biz; may help ByteDance avoid ban

Microsoft announced Sunday that its bid to buy TikTok has been rejected

The owner of TikTok has chosen Oracle over Microsoft as its preferred suitor to buy the popular video-sharing app, according to a source familiar with the deal.Under the proposed deal, Oracle will be ByteDance’s technology partner and will assume management of TikTok’s U. S. user data, the sources said. Oracle is also negotiating taking a stake in TikTok’s U. S. operations, the sources added. Some of ByteDance’s top backers, including investment firms General Atlantic and Sequoia, will also be given minority stakes in TikTok’s U. S. operations under the proposed deal, one of the sources said.Microsoft announced Sunday that its bid to buy TikTok has been rejected, removing a leading suitor for the Chinese-owned app a week before President Donald Trump promises to follow through with a plan to ban it in the US.

Microsoft said in a Sunday statement that TikTok’s parent company, Bytedance, let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. The Trump administration has threatened to ban TikTok by mid-September and ordered ByteDance to sell its US business, claiming national-security risks due to its Chinese ownership. The government worries about user data being funneled to Chinese authorities. TikTok denies it is a national-security risk and is suing to stop the administration from the threatened ban….

TikTok will ‘strictly abide’ by new China export regulations: ByteDance

TikTok owner ByteDance has said it will abide by the new rules set by China for technologies that are subject to export bans or restrictions

TikTok owner ByteDance has said it will abide by the new rules set by China for technologies that are subject to export bans or restrictions. China updated the list of technologies that are subject to export bans last week amid pressure on the app’s parent company ByteDance by the White House to divest its business in the US quickly or face an effective ban.

The new list, released jointly by China’s Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology, added 23 items to export restrictions while technical parameters of 21 items were revised. On Sunday, ByteDance said “the company will strictly abide” by the new export rules, reports CNBC. All technology transfers abroad, whether through trade, investment or other means, must strictly abide by relevant regulations on technology import and export of the country, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Friday. The update could affect a potential TikTok deal in the US.

“As a fast-growing innovative enterprise, ByteDance has many cutting-edge technologies in artificial intelligence and other fields, and some technologies may have been covered by the adjusted catalogue,” Professor Cui Fan at the University of International Business and Economics told Xinhua. Two new items under the category of information processing technology in the computer service industry were cited by Cui as relevant in the TikTok deal, which was the “personalized information push service technology based on data analysis” and “artificial intelligence interactive interface technology.”

ByteDance in talks with Reliance for investment in TikTok: Report

The government in June banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat, for threatening its “sovereignty and integrity” after border tensions with China

China’s ByteDance is in early talks with Reliance Industries Ltd for investment in its video-based app TikTok’s business in India, TechCrunch reported on Thursday, citing sources. The two companies began conversations late last month and have not reached a deal yet, according to the report. Reliance, ByteDance and TikTok did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

ALSO READ: US threat on TikTok is sheer gangster logic and daylight robbery: China

The Indian government in June banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat, for threatening its “sovereignty and integrity” after border tensions with China. Last week, US President Donald Trump unveiled bans on US transactions with the China-based owners of messaging app WeChat and TikTok, escalating tensions between the two countries. Microsoft Corp has been in talks to acquire the US operations of the video-sharing app. Social media platform Twitter Inc has also expressed interest in having a deal with TikTok, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters late last week.

‘Rupture in digital world’ as Trump orders ban on TikTok, WeChat in 45 days

Tiktok has come under fire from US lawmakers and the administration over national security concerning data collection

President Donald Trump announced Thursday sweeping bans on U.S. transactions with China’s ByteDance, owner of video-sharing app TikTok, and Tencent, operator of the WeChat app, starting in 45 days, in a major escalation of tensions with Beijing that one analyst described as “rupture in the digital world”. The executive orders come as the Trump administration said this week it was stepping up efforts to purge “untrusted” Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks and called the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok and messenger app WeChat “significant threats.”

Tiktok, the hugely popular video-sharing app, has come under fire from U.S. lawmakers and the administration over national security concerning data collection, amid intensified tension between Washington and Beijing. Trump issued the orders under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that grants the administration sweeping power to bar U.S. firms or citizens from trading or conducting financial transactions with sanctioned parties.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday expanded efforts on a program it calls “Clean Network” would focus on five areas and include steps to prevent various Chinese apps, as well as Chinese telecoms companies, from accessing sensitive information on American citizens and businesses.

Trump gives Tiktok's ByteDance 45 days to agree to Microsoft sale: Report

One idea under consideration is to give Microsoft and ByteDance a transition period to develop technology for TikTok that will be completely separate from ByteDance

President Donald Trump has agreed to give China’s ByteDance 45 days to negotiate a sale of popular short-video app TikTok to Microsoft Corp, two people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. U.S. officials have said TikTok under its Chinese parent poses a national risk because of the personal data it handles. Trump said on Friday he was planning to ban TikTok in the United States after dismissing the idea of a sale to Microsoft.

But following a discussion between Trump and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the Redwood, Washington-based company said in a statement on Sunday that it would continue negotiations to acquire TikTok from ByteDance, and that it aimed to reach a deal by Sept. 15.

It was not immediately clear what changed Trump’s mind. Banning TikTok would alienate many of its young users ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November, and would likely trigger a wave of legal challenges. Several prominent Republican lawmakers put out statements in the last two days urging Trump to back a sale of TikTok to Microsoft.

TikTok enlists army of lobbyists as suspicions over China ties grow

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has threatened to ban the app over surveillance concerns

International News: TikTok, the wildly popular social media app known for its viral dance and lip sync clips, has been embraced by millions of students, celebrities and young adults across the United States. But the company’s ties to China could cripple its existence.

TikTok, which is owned by the China-based ByteDance, has become the latest target in the Trump administration’s long simmering security and economic battle with Beijing. It is now desperately trying to convince lawmakers and administration officials that its allegiance lies with the United States, not China. The social media company, which one year ago had virtually no lobbying presence in the nation’s capital, has hired a small army of more than 35 lobbyists to work on its behalf, including one with deep ties to President Trump.

Behind that buildup is a growing threat to one of TikTok’s most important markets. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has threatened to ban Chinese apps like TikTok, which are downloaded to mobile phones, over concerns they could be used for surveillance by the Chinese government. Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser, called TikTok’s new chief executive an “American puppet” during a Fox Business interview on Sunday and said the administration would take “strong action” against the company and other Chinese social media apps.

A powerful US panel has opened a national security review into Bytedance’s 2018 purchase of Musical.ly, an app that was merged to form TikTok. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US is examining whether the merged companies could give the Chinese government access to vast amounts of American data, including videos useful for training facial recognition software. And the Trump administration is weighing action against Chinese social media services like TikTok under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which allows the president to regulate international commerce in response to unusual and extraordinary threats, people familiar with the deliberations say.

US probing allegations TikTok failed to protect children's privacy: Report

TikTok failed to delete videos and personal information about users age 13 and younger as it had agreed to do, according to US agencies.

The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Justice Department are looking into allegations that popular app TikTok failed to live up to a 2019 agreement aimed at protecting children's privacy, according to two people interviewed by the agencies.

A staffer in a Massachusetts tech policy group and another source said they took part in separate conference calls with FTC and Justice Department officials to discuss accusations the China-based short video sharing app had failed to live up to an agreement announced in February 2019.

The Center for Digital Democracy, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and others in May asked the FTC look into their allegations TikTok failed to delete videos and personal information about users age 13 and younger as it had agreed to do, among other violations.

Reuters could not determine whether any action would be taken against TikTok by either of the two agencies. A TikTok spokesman said they take "safety seriously for all our users," adding that in the United States they "accommodate users under 13 in a limited app experience that introduces additional safety and privacy protections designed specifically for a younger audience."

Officials from both the FTC, which reached the original consent agreement with TikTok, and Justice Department, which often files court documents for the FTC, met via video with representatives of the groups to discuss the matter, said David Monahan, a campaign manager with the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood...Read More

US may ban Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, says Mike Pompeo

TikTok, along with 58 other Chinese apps, were banned in India last week following a border clash with China.

Days after India banned 59 apps including TikTok and UC Browser, the United States on Tuesday said that it was also 'looking' at banning Chinese social media apps. “I don’t want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but it’s something we’re looking at,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News, as reported by Reuters.

ALSO READ: TikTok to exit Hong Kong market within days over new national security law

TikTok, along with 58 other Chinese apps, including Tencent Holdings LTD’s WeChat and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s UC Browser, were banned in India last week following a border clash with China. India had banned apps for engaging in "activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". In response, China described New Delhi's actions as "discriminatory" while calling for the reversal of the ban.

China sees India's ban on apps as 'discriminatory', calls for reversal

Chinese Commerce Ministry Spokesman Gao Feng said that China has not taken any restrictive measures against Indian products and services

Days after India banned 59 Chinese apps for engaging in activities "prejudicial" to the sovereignty and integrity of the country, Beijing on Thursday issued a predictable reaction, describing New Delhi's actions as "discriminatory" while calling for the reversal of the ban. India on Monday banned 59 apps with Chinese links, including the hugely popular TikTok and UC Browser, for engaging in "activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". The ban also comes in the backdrop of the current stand-off along the Line of Actual control in eastern Ladakh with Chinese troops.
Responding to reports that both countries are strengthening import regulations and suppressing each other's export goods amid the tense border situation and its impact on China's foreign trade enterprises exports to India, Chinese Commerce Ministry Spokesman Gao Feng said that China has not taken any restrictive measures against Indian products and services.

"First of all, I want to clarify that China has not taken any restrictive and discriminatory measures against Indian products and services, he said, according to the transcript posted on the ministry's website. India's practices violate relevant World Trade Organization rules," Gao said. The spokesman also expressed hope that India would immediately correct the discriminatory practices against China and Chinese enterprises.

Chingari to Trell: Desi apps upbeat after India's digital strike on China

While the Indian alternatives are seeing a huge surge in usage, experts believe that their dream run could be short-lived if the government decides to overturn the ban

The ban on TikTok is proving to be a ‘demonetisation moment’ for desi social apps like Chingari. Its co-founder Sumit Ghosh has had sleepless nights ever since the government banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok. He is trying to find ways to equip the app so that it can handle the unprecedented and sudden spike in traffic. Chingari is adding up to 600,000 users per hour, crossing a total user base of 7.5 million.

Ghosh said the app has a creation tool, which is as good as TikTok’s, hence a lot of influencers are moving to their platform. The idea behind starting Chingari, he says, is not to build a TikTok clone but to position itself as a super app for India like WeChat. “We just wanted to penetrate the market with short videos, which have already taken off in India. We are now working on live streaming and chat functions, which will be rolled out soon,” said Ghosh.

The app, which also has a news feature, is hoping to close a Series-A round of funding next week. Chingari has a reward point feature in which every time a content creator uploads a video, he earns points that can be encashed later through partner UPI platforms.

Experts say top content creators and influencers make between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5 lakh per post on platforms like TikTok, and such influencers can have at least four deals a month. “In the short term, many (content creators) would have lost their livelihoods. Now they have realised and won’t keep all their eggs in one basket,” said Rahul Singh, chief executive and co-founder at Bengaluru-based influential marketing firm Winkl…Read More

Facebook launches ‘Collab’ music-making app to take on TikTok: Details here

Named Collab, the app is currently available for iOS devices and requires invite to download

From a messaging app for Apple Watch to meme creator and discovery platform, Facebook is experimenting on several consumer-focused apps under a new team called ‘NPE Teams, from Facebook’. The new addition to the list is a music collaboration app, which allows content creators and fans to create, watch, and mix and match original music videos. Named Collab, the iOS app will be available through invite-based modfel. To request access, you need to sign up for a waitlist. Invites will be send in batches, starting with people in the US and Canada.

“Collabs are three independent videos that are playing in sync. With the app, you can create your own arrangement by adding in your own recording or by swiping and discovering an arrangement to complete your composition. No musical experience is required,” said the NPE Teams, from Facebook in a blogpost. The content created using Collab app can be published on other platforms, including Facebook-owned Instagram and Facebook Stories.

ALSO READ: Facebook brings in new feature to let users lock profiles from non-friends

The Collab is not the first app from NPE Teams. This month itself, the team behind experimental apps rolled out two other apps – CatchUp and Hobbi. The CatchUp app works like a Messenger; it helps you stay in touch with the people by showing if they are available to talk. However, unlike Messenger, the app does not auto set the availability. Instead, you need to indicate that you are available to talk and call.

India TikTok ban causing $500,000 daily loss, risks jobs: China’s Bytedance

The ban has also worried the social media industry in India as it sees legal worries mounting if courts increasingly regulate content on their platforms.

India’s ban on popular Chinese video app TikTok is resulting in “financial losses” of up to $500,000 a day for its developer, Beijing Bytedance Technology Co, and has put more than 250 jobs at risk, the company said in a court filing seen by Reuters.

TikTok allows users to create and share short videos with special effects and is one of the world’s most popular apps. It has been downloaded by nearly 300 million users so far in India, out of more than 1 billion downloads globally, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. Earlier this month, an Indian state court ordered the federal government to prohibit its downloads, saying the app was encouraging pornography. Acting upon instructions from the federal IT ministry, Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google last week removed TikTok from their India app stores.

The developments have dealt a blow to the India growth plans of Bytedance, which is backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp and by private equity. Bytedance, one of the world’s most valuable startups potentially worth around $75 billion, was considering a public listing in Hong Kong this year, sources told Reuters in August.

The ban has also worried the social media industry in India as it sees legal worries mounting if courts increasingly regulate content on their platforms. In the filing made to India’s Supreme Court on Saturday, Bytedance urged the court to quash the ban and direct the federal IT ministry to tell companies such as Google and Apple to make the app available again on their platforms. The court filing is not publicly available and its contents have not been previously reported…

Madras HC lifts ban on TikTok, imposes limit on content of videos

Chinese company which owns the app says the ban resulted in a financial loss of around $500,000 daily.

The Madras HC has lifted the ban on Chinese short video sharing app TikTok, subject to the company fulfilling some conditions. After hearing the matter for about five hours on Wednesday, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, consisting of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice S S Sundar vacated its interim order banning the app, subject to the condition that pornographic videos, and those on child abuse and women abuse will not be uploaded on it, failing which contempt of court proceedings would be initiated.

The same bench had, on April 3, issued an order directing the Centre to prohibit downloading of the TikTok Mobile App, as it observed that there was the risk inappropriate content such as abusive language and pornography would posted on the app.

ByteDance, backed by investor SoftBank Corp, which owns the app, moved the Apex Court against the Order. On Monday, a Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the High Court to decide on the petition against the app on April 24, failing which the ban on the app would be automatically vacated. The matter was again heard by the Madurai bench for nearly five hours on Wednesday, after which the order was passed.

While the Order copy was not available immediately, Advocate K Neelamegam, who is representing the petitioner and was present in Court, confirmed that the Court has “modified” the previous Order, subject to meeting the conditions. TikTok has said that the app will shut automatically if the user upload any objectionable videos. The company said it has created a three-layer system, including an AI-based one, and manual deletion in to take care of such cases. It also informed the Court that nearly six million controversial videos had been deleted. The firm also said it would appoint a nodal officer to address any complaints between 13 and 36 hours from their being filed.

Madras HC asks govt to ban video app TikTok, says it encourages pornography

The Madras High Court, which has been hearing a public interest litigation against the app, on Wednesday said children who were using TikTok were vulnerable to exposure to sexual predators.

Technology News: The Madras High Court on Wednesday asked the federal government to ban Chinese video app TikTok, saying it was “encouraging pornography”. Created by Beijing Bytedance Technology Co, TikTok allows users to create and share short videos with special effects. It has become hugely popular in rural India, home to most of the country’s 1.3 billion people.

Jokes, clips and footage related to India’s thriving movie industry dominate the platform, along with memes and videos in which youngsters, some scantily clad, lip-sync and dance to popular music. Speaking to Reuters in February, the IT minister of Tamil Nadu described some of its more suggestive dance content as “unbearable”, while a Hindu nationalist group close to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for the app to be banned.

Also in February, the BJP’s chief of information technology, Amit Malviya, said the party was tracking TikTok conversations and called it “a brilliant medium for creative expression”. The Madras High Court, which has been hearing a public interest litigation against the Tiktok app, on Wednesday said children who were using TikTok were vulnerable to exposure to sexual predators.

“Inappropriate” content was TikTok’s “dangerous aspect”, the court said in an order seen by Reuters, adding that “there is a possibility of the children contacting strangers directly”. A TikTok spokesman told Reuters the company was committed to abiding by local laws and was awaiting a copy of the court’s order, following which it would take appropriate action..