Could TikTok be banned?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 17 April 2023
⏱️ 31 minutes
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Summary
In recent months pressure on TikTok has escalated over fears about how the app and its Chinese parent company ByteDance handle users’ data. The US has threatened to ban the app and two weeks ago the company was fined over £12m for misusing children’s data in the UK. So is the app a national security concern? And is time running out for TikTok?
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Guest: Chris Stokel-Walker, journalist, Times contributor and author of TikTok Boom: China's Dynamite App and the Superpower Race for Social Media.
Host: Jenny Kleeman.
Producer: Olivia Case.
Clips: Channel 4 News, Sky News, Parliament TV, 7News Australia, BBC News, C-SPAN, AFP, TikTok, NBC News, TikTok/@bellapoarch, Old Town Road/Lil Nas X/Columbia Records, Blinding Lights/The Weeknd/XO/Republic Records, TikTok/@kazzledazzlesteponme.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In recent months, the social media platform TikTok has come under increasing pressure. |
| 0:09.2 | Now the US is threatening to ban TikTok for all Americans. |
| 0:13.2 | Some of the accusations against TikTok are that it's stealing American users' data and |
| 0:17.9 | feeding it to China. |
| 0:21.2 | Critics say it's spreading misinformation and harvesting data for the Chinese government. |
| 0:26.9 | Strongly denies this. |
| 0:28.5 | Separately, it's been fined over £12 million in the UK for mishandling children's data. |
| 0:34.8 | The Information Commission's officers found several breaches of the |
| 0:38.5 | rules relating to the data, particularly the use of children's data and those under 13. |
| 0:43.9 | And now some governments and companies are asking users to delete it from their phones. |
| 0:49.6 | We are also going to ban the use of TikTok on government devices. |
| 0:54.1 | The TikTok ban for all government devices. |
| 0:57.6 | The move brings Australia in line with New Zealand, Canada, the US and the UK. |
| 1:03.0 | The UK branch of the European Union have been ordered to remove the TikTok app from their phones |
| 1:07.6 | to protect data and increase cyber security. |
| 1:12.6 | Could we really see an all-out ban in the US? |
| 1:15.7 | And what does that mean for the app here in the UK? |
| 1:24.8 | You're listening to stories of our times from the times and the Sunday times. |
| 1:30.2 | I'm Jenny Cleeman. Today, could TikTok be banned? |
| 1:46.4 | My name is Christoka Walker. I'm a technology journalist and the author of TikTok Boom. |
| 1:54.6 | At the end of March, Chris, TikTok's CEO, Shuzi Choo, he was making headlines across the US and |
| 2:03.0 | also here in the UK. Tell us what was happening. |
... |
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