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The accounts of some K-pop stars have been blocked from view in the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, Douyin, the Reuters controls shown on Friday (July 17), days after the South Korean media regulator imposed Fines for the short video application for breach of data privacy.
The reasons for the blockades were unknown, but the move also comes after statements by United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the United States “is certainly seeking” to ban Chinese social media applications, including TikTok.
South Korea’s communications regulator fined TikTok, the app’s publisher, 186 million won (S $ 200,000) on Wednesday for collecting personal information from children under the age of 14 without the consent of the guardians and failing to disclose or notify when sending personal information abroad.
TikTok was required to submit voluntary preventive measures within 30 days, and the regulator planned to continue discussions with TikTok on information security issues, an official with the Korea Communications Commission said.
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The accounts of K-Pop stars like Rain, TWICE, Mamamoo and HyunA were blocked from view in Douyin as of Friday.
Douyin and TikTok operated independently and accounts operated normally on TikTok, a TikTok spokeswoman said.
Douyin’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
TikTok and Douyin are owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
The Chinese-owned TikTok, among the fastest growing digital platforms, has come under intense scrutiny on issues including its handling of user data. India banned TikTok and other Chinese apps in June. Douyin is not available in app stores outside of Mainland China.
ByteDance has quietly made a series of moves in recent months to transfer global decision-making and research capabilities outside of China, Reuters reported in May.
K-pop star management agencies had no comment.
China accumulated 196.6 million Douyin downloads in the first quarter, or 9.7 percent of more than two billion TikTok downloads in total, according to data from industry site Sensor Tower.
South Korean K-Pop concerts, tourism and business were hit hard by a Chinese boycott in 2017 after Seoul deployed a U.S.-made anti-missile defense system despite Beijing’s objections.
Hopes for a thaw in relations rose earlier this year amid plans for a possible visit to Seoul by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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