TikTok Is Now More Transparent, Providing Access To Public Data To Researchers

JAKARTA - TikTok wants to make its platform more transparent by providing access to public data to researchers who are in non-profit academic institutions in the United States (US).

But the company's move is not unconditional, where interested universities and researchers should apply for access and be approved by TikTok's US Data Security Division (USDS).

This expansion comes as TikTok began testing the early version of the research API in November last year. At the time of the announcement, TikTok realized researchers currently do not have an easy way to assess content or test its platform, hence a research API is needed.

TikTok works to increase transparency with the research community. As part of our efforts to stay responsible for how we moderate and recommend content, we have created APIs that include public data on content and accounts on our platform," said TikTok.

"This API will be available to researchers globally, starting with academic researchers in the US and extending to additional regions and including NGO researchers as we build capacity."

With API, academics and researchers can access public data, anonymous such as user profiles, comments content, likes, favorites on videos and search results to better understand TikTok trends and user activity.

Launching TechCrunch, Wednesday, February 22, TikTok's decision came when it was facing resistance in various US states, speeding up the company as a national threat to the country.

Last December, the US House of Representatives, which has ordered its staff and lawmakers to remove TikTok from any mobile device issued by the government.

This is because the parent company ByteDance has connections to China. At least 20 US states have banned TikTok on government-owned devices. Even with universities in the US which also prohibit TikTok from their networks and campus equipment.