Tech

ByteDance’s head of China news unit promoted as global TikTok R&D chief

Editorial Bureau February 25, 2021

BEIJING (CHINA) – ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, is planning to transfer the head of its Chinese news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, Zhu Wenjia, to Singapore to be in charge of global research and development for its short video app TikTok. It would be the first senior R&D position

Tech

ByteDance not part of preliminary talks for listing TikTok in NYSE: source

Ren Leen February 17, 2021

BEIJING (CHINA) – ByteDance is not in preliminary discussions, with regard to listing video app TikTok on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), a person familiar with the matter said. This was following a Chinese media report, which said talks were in progress. The Global Times, published by China’s ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily

Tech

TikTok struck by consumer law breaches complaints across Europe

Editorial Bureau February 16, 2021

BRUSSELS (BELGIUM) – TikTok was hit with multiple complaints from EU consumer groups on Tuesday for allegedly breaching the bloc’s consumer laws and for not being able to protect children from hidden advertising and content, which is found to be inappropriate. TikTok faces flak over its privacy and safety policies following a number of incidents. […]

Tech

TikTok sale to Walmart, Oracle gets pushed to back seat as Biden reviews security: WSJ

Editorial Bureau February 10, 2021

NEW YORK (US) – Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc’s plan to purchase TikTok’s US operations has been set aside indefinitely, as President Joe Biden evaluates Donald Trump’s efforts to address potential security risks from Chinese tech companies, reported the Wall Street journal on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. 

Tech

TikTok to prevent accounts in Italy to make sure all users are above 13: watchdog

Editorial Bureau February 3, 2021

MILAN (ITALY) – Italy’s data protection authority said on Wednesday TikTok had agreed to block all accounts in the country from February 9 in order to make sure only users older than 13 had access to the service app. Children usage of online platforms has come under fire in Italy after the death of a […]

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Death of young girl: Italy orders TikTok to block unverified user accounts

Editorial Bureau January 23, 2021

ROME (ITALY) – Following the death of a 10-year-old Italian girl who was an avid user of Chinese app TikTok, the nation’s data privacy watchdog told the application to block the accounts of any Italian whose age it could not verify. The watchdog said in a statement that though TikTok had pledged to prohibit the […]

Tech

ByteDance unveils Douyin Pay in a bid to expand eCommerce business in China

Editorial Bureau January 19, 2021

BEIJING (CHINA) – Beijing-based firm ByteDance unveiled on Tuesday its third-party payment service for the Chinese avatar of TikTok, Douyin Pay, in a bid to increase its footprint in the eCommerce business in China. “The set-up of Douyin Pay is to supplement the existing major payment options, and to ultimately enhance user experience on Douyin,” […]

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US might not have an extension of TikTok divestiture deadline

Editorial Bureau December 5, 2020

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (US) – The Trump administration on Friday opted not to grant ByteDance a new extension of an order requiring the Chinese company to divest TikTok’s US assets, but talks will continue over the short video-sharing app’s fate, two sources briefed on the matter said. A Treasury Department representative said late on Friday the […]

Tech

Snapchat introduces TikTok-like feature ‘Spotlight’

Ren Leen November 23, 2020

CALIFORNIA (US) – Snap Inc on Monday rolled out a feature, “Spotlight”, that would allow users to share short-form videos publicly in its Snapchat app, adding a service that would compete with ByteDance-owned TikTok and Instagram Reels. Users, who could previously share snaps or stories with friends, can now share them directly to Spotlight and […]

Tech

TikTok executive order to be defended by US

Editorial Bureau November 2, 2020

WASHINGTON (US) – The US Commerce Department said on Sunday it would “vigorously defend” an executive order seeking to prevent transactions with Chinese-owned TikTok after a federal judge halted the action. US District Judge Wendy Beetlestone on Friday blocked the Commerce Department order, which was set to take effect on Nov. 12. If it materialised, […]