Watch Out E-Boys & E-Girls! China Might Be Watching Your TikToks

By Ameera Rosli  •  25 Oct 2019 in News

Thirsty for JUICE content? Quench your cravings on our Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp

Doing the woah and lip-synching to songs you don’t know the lyrics to are all fun and games until you find out the Chinese government might be surveilling your videos…

We’re all very much aware that China doesn’t have the best policies when it comes to privacy, demonstrated when they installed spyware onto their tourists’ phones without their consent, so it’s no surprise that the Chinese owned TikTok app might pose a threat to its users as well.

Two US Senators, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator Tom Cotton asked the Directorate of National Intelligence to “conduct an assessment of the national security risks” posed by TikTok.

Known for having irrefutable power over its citizens, China might have a legally binding agreement with TikTok to monitor the 110 million users on the platform for any information that could be useful to Chinese intelligence. This suspicion was substantiated when TikTok began allegedly removing/censoring videos of users who were mocking the regime or speaking out against the Uighur Muslim concentration camps which forced users to re-upload their TikToks on other platforms such as Twitter.

Similar to almost every social media avenue currently available, TikTok gathers personal data of its users which could pose a counterintelligence threat especially during this delicate time where there is an ongoing trade war between the US and China. 

It is important to note that despite ByteDance (owner of TikTok) being an American company, it is still required to adhere to the laws of China.

What say you, TikTokers? To TikTok or not to TikTok? That is the question…