TikTok Dispels Myths About Platform Control by Chinese Companies

TikTok straightens out the myth about the company (photo: dock. unsplash)

JAKARTA – TikTok is aware that many myths about its company are still spread by word of mouth. If this misinformation continues, TikTok's branding could suffer.

Therefore, the company is trying to straighten out disinformation about the TikTok platform by clarifying myths by presenting facts. So far, the myths about TikTok are not far from accusations of control by the Chinese government.

The first myth that TikTok wants to clear up is the Chinese company's label. TikTok says that they are indeed managed by ByteDance, a company founded by entrepreneurs from China, but TikTok is not a Chinese-owned company.

Currently, TikTok is controlled by global investors such as the Carlyle Group, General Atlantic, and Susquehanna International Group, thousands of employees in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Japan, as well as the company's individual founder.

Furthermore, TikTok wants to straighten out understanding about Chinese-owned TikTok. TikTok is not available in China so it is impossible for them to build a head office there. Currently, TikTok's headquarters are only in Singapore and Los Angeles.

“This is in line with ByteDance's approach to align business needs with the markets in which its services operate. "Apart from that, ByteDance also does not have a single global headquarters," wrote TikTok, quoted from a company release.

Next, TikTok wants to clear up the myth regarding Chinese government interference in their application. Firmly, TikTok says that they are an entertainment application and have never been controlled by any government.

TikTok also does not manipulate content regarding political issues and events in China. The company says that it only moderates content based on its publicly accessible Community Guidelines.

“TikTok does not remove content on behalf of any government except to comply with legal processes for content that violates local laws. TikTok does not operate in China,” TikTok said.

Another myth that TikTok wants to clear up is the problem of storing Indonesian user data. TikTok states that they never store any user data in China, including Indonesian user data.

“It's important to know that user data is stored in Singapore, Malaysia and the United States, and strict protocols govern employee access, wherever they are located,” explained TikTok.