TikTok has been working hard for months to demonstrate that its identity and practices are firmly anchored in the United States.
The American president has accused TikTok for months, without proof, of siphoning off data from American users for the benefit of Beijing.
AFP
TikTok, accused of espionage by Donald Trump’s government, stepped up its American communications campaign on Monday with a new website to combat “rumors” and continued its expansion by signing an agreement with a music distribution company.
“Given the rumors and disinformation about TikTok that proliferate in Washington and in the media, we want to set the record straight,” the very popular social network says on its site, under the slogan “the last sunshine of the internet” . The American president has accused for months, without proof, the video-sharing platform of siphoning the data of American users for the benefit of Beijing.
He signed two executive orders aimed at forcing ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to sell the network’s US operations quickly, or else block it in the United States. “TikTok is not available in China. US user data is stored in Virginia with a backup in Singapore, ”the company said. “TikTok has never provided any US data to the Chinese government, and would not if asked.”
In a context of strong commercial and political tensions with China, the tenant of the White House has already taken radical measures ten days ago against the network very frequented by the youngest: he banned him, d ‘within 45 days, any transaction with an American partner. On Friday, he signed a second executive order to force ByteDance to sell the US activities of TikTok, its international social network, within 90 days.
“For nearly a year, we have sought to discuss with the US government to find a solution,” TikTok reacted. “But we found ourselves faced with an administration which does not attach any importance to the facts, does not respect legal procedures and tries to interfere in negotiations between private companies.” Microsoft is in advanced negotiations to buy the application.
Let the music
TikTok has been working hard for months to demonstrate that its identity and practices are firmly anchored in the United States. On June 1, Kevin Mayer, the former head of Disney’s streaming platforms (Disney +, Hulu and ESPN +), took over as head of the platform.
On Monday, his company announced an agreement with UnitedMasters, a music distribution company, to allow network artists to stream their tracks directly from the app to streaming services, like Apple Music, Spotify or YouTube.
“If you are a musician, TikTok is the best place for your music to go viral and UnitedMasters is the best place to make it exist over time, while retaining the rights to your work,” said Steve Stoute, the boss of UnitedMasters. . “By combining the two, we are creating the platform for the stars of tomorrow, who will be famous, ultra-independent and wealthy.”
TikTok has built its success on tools for creating and sharing short, offbeat videos, playing on music and humor, and distributed by algorithms according to individual tastes and not contacts. “We are here for a long time,” Vanessa Pappas, head of the United States branch of TikTok, said in a cheerful video on the application in early August for users. The entertainment platform has nearly one billion users worldwide. Its popularity has grown even further with the pandemic months.
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