Justice Department sues TikTok, accusing the company of illegally collecting children’s data; AP, August 2, 2024

HALELUYA HADERO, AP; Justice Department sues TikTok, accusing the company of illegally collecting children’s data

"The Justice Department sued TikTok on Friday, accusing the company of violating children’s online privacy law and running afoul of a settlement it had reached with another federal agency. 

The complaint, filed together with the Federal Trade Commission in a California federal court, comes as the U.S. and the prominent social media company are embroiled in yet another legal battle that will determine if – or how – TikTok will continue to operate in the country. 

The latest lawsuit focuses on allegations that TikTok, a trend-setting platform popular among young users, and its China-based parent company ByteDance violated a federal law that requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parental consent before collecting personal information of children under 13. It also says the companies failed to honor requests from parents who wanted their children’s accounts deleted, and chose not to delete accounts even when the firms knew they belonged to kids under 13."

What happens now that Biden has signed the TikTok bill; Axios, April 24, 2024

• Ivan Saric, Axios; What happens now that Biden has signed the TikTok bill
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

More Americans are getting news on TikTok, bucking the trend seen on most other social media sites; Pew Research Center, November 15, 2023

KATERINA EVA MATSA, Pew Research Center; More Americans are getting news on TikTok, bucking the trend seen on most other social media sites

[Kip Currier: This November 2023 Pew Research Center article about news consumption by Americans--particularly increasing numbers of teens--who use TikTok should be concerning to anyone who has an interest in democratic principles, informed citizenries, accuracy of information, national security, and public health.

It's not going to be easy, though, to stem access to dis- and misinformation and instill more guardrails against conspiracy theories and hate speech (--looking at you too, Elon/Twitter-cum-X) for Big Tech platforms like TikTok (though states like Montana are trying to provide bulwarks) that are well-documented for-profit purveyors of disinformation and misinformation.

One step in raising awareness of social media platform concerns is to get more informed about TikTok's meteoric rise from new-kid-on-the-social-media-block just a few years ago to prodigious social media sensation/Trojan horse threat today: the Washington Post's May 2023 "How TikTok went from teen sensation to political pariah" provides an informative timeline of TikTok's onset and vitality.

A significant concern of TikTok usage and market penetration is public health-related: Social media companies like TikTok and Meta utilize known (and unknown "trade secret-shielded") design features that foster addictive consumption of their content, which, in part, is having documented negative impacts on mental health. Bloomberg's April 2023 article "TikTok’s Algorithm Keeps Pushing Suicide to Vulnerable Kids" is one example.

Ongoing concerns about TikTok's threats to U.S. national security and cybersecurity have also prompted the Biden administration to speak out forcefully in March 2023.

The burden of addressing the "information threats" these sites present is going to be on schools and public libraries: to advance "social media information literacy" and critical thinking skills in young people, as well as persons of all ages. Unfortunately, libraries are, in many instances, jumping pell-mell on the TikTok bandwagon: rhapsodically promoting the platform, both tacitly and overtly, without commensurately weighing the substantive downsides of its use for community engagement and messaging that, admittedly, can have positive upshots, like combatting rising rates of book challenges and bans.

Notice, too, on television the increased Public Relations/Crisis Management "feel-good ad" campaigning that TikTok--like Meta/Facebook--has been engaging in the past few years to counter reporting about the burgeoning amounts of disinformation and misinformation on these sites, as well as other real concerns highlighted above. These ads employ folksy, "nothing-to-worry-about-on-here" messages in attempts to downplay the genuine dangers that they represent to individuals and democratic societies. The reality, however, is that there is bonafide "stuff" to worry about regarding TikTok and its ilk -- and ample evidence of these intersectional problems to vindicate taking affirmative steps now to mitigate and push back against their negative impacts.

Are you listening, U.S. Congress and state legislatures?]

"A small but growing share of U.S. adults say they regularly get news on TikTok. This is in contrast with many other social media sites, where news consumption has either declined or stayed about the same in recent years.

In just three years, the share of U.S. adults who say they regularly get news from TikTok has more than quadrupled, from 3% in 2020 to 14% in 2023.

TikTok, primarily known for short-form video sharing, has become especially popular among teens – two-thirds of whom report ever using the platform – as well as young adults."

State judge slapped with ethics complaint for “inappropriate” TikTok videos; New Jersey Monitor, July 3, 2023

DANA DIFILIPPO, New Jersey Monitor; State judge slapped with ethics complaint for “inappropriate” TikTok videos

"A state Superior Court judge is in trouble after he allegedly posted videos to TikTok of himself lip-syncing racy songs in the courthouse, lying half-clothed in bed, and in other situations a judicial ethics panel found objectionable.

Judge Gary N. Wilcox, who’s assigned to the Bergen County vicinage, posted 40 videos over a two-year period to a public account under the pseudonym “Sal Tortorella,” and 11 of them “were inappropriate and brought disrepute to the Judiciary,” the state Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct wrote in a 5-page formal complaint filed Friday and announced Monday.

The videos were objectionable because of their content (profanity and references to violence, sex, and misogyny), location (the courthouse, his judicial chambers, or a bed), or his physical appearance (in his judicial robes and/or partially unclothed in bed), the committee wrote...

It also violates the judicial code of conduct, including one rule requiring judges “to conduct their extrajudicial activities in a manner that would not cast reasonable doubt on the judge’s capacity to act impartially as a judge, demean the judicial office, or interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties,” the committee noted."

Driver’s Licenses, Addresses, Photos: Inside How TikTok Shares User Data; The New York Times, May 24, 2023

 Sapna Maheshwari and Ryan Mac, The New York Times; Driver’s Licenses, Addresses, Photos: Inside How TikTok Shares User Data

"The user materials on Lark raise questions about TikTok’s data and privacy practices and show how intertwined it is with ByteDance, just as the video app faces mounting scrutiny over its potential security risks and ties to China. Last week, Montana’s governor signed a bill banning TikTok in the state as of Jan. 1. The app has also been prohibited at universities and government agencies and by the military."

What internet outrage reveals about race and TikTok's algorithm; NPR, February 14, 2022

Jess Kung, NPR; What internet outrage reveals about race and TikTok's algorithm

"The more our lives become intertwined and caught up in tech and social media algorithms, the more it's worth trying to understand and unpack just how those algorithms work. Who becomes viral, and why? Who gets harassed, who gets defended, and what are the lasting repercussions? And how does the internet both obscure and exacerbate the racial and gender dynamics that already animate so much of our social interactions?"

TikTok bans misgendering, deadnaming from its content; NPR, February 9, 2022

RINA TORCHINSKY , NPR; TikTok bans misgendering, deadnaming from its content

"TikTok is updating its community guidelines to ban deadnaming, misgendering and misogyny.

The changes, announced Tuesday, are a part of a broader update designed to promote safety and security on the platform. The app will also remove content that promotes disordered eating and further restrict content related to dangerous acts. 

Last year, a report by GLAAD said TikTok and other top social media sites are all "effectively unsafe for LGBTQ users...

Along with the new guidelines, TikTok published its most recent quarterly Community Guidelines Enforcement Report. More than 91 million videos — about 1% of all uploaded videos — were removed during the third quarter of 2021 because they violated the guidelines. 

Of all videos removed from July to September 2021, about 1.5% were removed due to hateful behavior, which includes hate speech on the basis of race, sexual orientation and gender, among other attributes."