New York, US | XINHUA | As the Trump administration is threatening to ban popular apps including TikTok and WeChat, “the United States may lose in Trump’s TikTok war,” warned an expert. Wei Shangjin, professor of finance and economics at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business and School of International …
Read More »U.S. political suppression of non-American firms doomed to boomerang: China
Beijing, China | XINHUA | Saying that reckless political manipulation and suppression of certain non-American firms by the United States is doomed to “boomerang,” China on Friday urged Washington to rectify its mistake and refrain from politicizing economic issues. The remarks were made by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin in response …
Read More »Trump issues order banning U.S. transactions with TikTok in 45 days
Washington, US | XINHUA | U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday issued an executive order banning any U.S. transactions with Chinese tech firm ByteDance, owner of popular video-sharing app TikTok, starting in 45 days, a controversial move widely criticized by experts. The app has been downloaded over 175 million times in …
Read More »Which apps benefitted most from Covid-19?
Lockdown measures imposed in a number of countries to combat the spread of Covid-19 (coronavirus) are unprecedented. Understandably, in times of social distancing, many people are looking to mobile apps for entertainment, to socialise, work and even keep fit. | THE INDEPENDENT | Of course apps and technology services as …
Read More »Egypt’s female TikTok influencers in the state’s crosshairs
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Young Egyptian women with thousands of followers each on the popular TikTok app have become the latest target of state authorities who accuse them of spreading “immorality” in society. Since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in 2014, hundreds of journalists, activists, lawyers and intellectuals …
Read More »Activists allege TikTok violated agreement on child protection
Washington, United States | AFP | A coalition of consumer groups filed a complaint Thursday with US regulators claiming the popular video app TikTok has failed to live up to an agreement last year limiting data collection from children. The 20 organizations said in a Federal Trade Commission complaint that …
Read More »WHO targets teens on social media to debunk virus myths
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization said Friday it was working with social media companies in a bid to quash misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic — including on more light-hearted apps popular with teenagers. The WHO said it had started working with TikTok and Snapchat since the …
Read More »TikTok’s time: video platform sees appeal growing during lockdowns
New York, United States | AFP | This is TikTok’s time. The social video platform which was already a favorite of teens is increasingly being used by adults looking for ways to pass the time during coronavirus lockdowns. Users post short videos — no longer than 60 seconds but often as …
Read More »Social media app TikTok removes Islamic State propaganda videos
Beijing, China | AFP | Social media app TikTok has taken down accounts that were posting propaganda videos for the Islamic State group, a company employee said Tuesday, in the latest scandal to hit the popular platform. TikTok, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, claimed some 500 million users globally …
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