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☆ TikTok plans global layoffs in operations and marketing
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —TikTok is planning to lay off large swaths of its operations and marketing workforce, current employees briefed on the plans told CNN. The global layoffs are expected to hit teams that handle user support and communications, as well as content and marketing. TikTok’s current global user operations team will be dismantled as part of the move, and remaining employees will be distributed among the company’s trust and safety, marketing, content and product teams. The layoffs had been in the works for some time, perhaps almost a year, but recent turnover in TikTok’s marketing, trust and safety and operations teams prompted delays, one of the employees told CNN. It is unclear how many TikTok employees could lose their jobs.

Persons: Adam Presser, Zenia Mucha, TikTok Organizations: CNN, The, Brand, Communications Locations: United States

☆ TikTok could face EU fines and a suspension over sister app TikTok Lite
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —European officials are threatening TikTok with massive fines and a possible forced suspension this week of parts of a new spinoff app, launched this month, that regulators allege contains addictive features. The warnings target TikTok Lite, a less data-intensive version of TikTok’s main app which contains a feature that rewards users with cash for engaging with TikTok content and app features. EU officials fear the feature could be used to turn TikTok Lite users into addicts who can’t stop using the app and described it as an “experiment” on unwitting EU citizens in Spain and France where TikTok Lite has been made available. A decision to order the suspension could come as early as Thursday, commission officials told reporters on a conference call. TikTok could face further, additional fines of up to 6% of its global annual revenue if the TikTok Lite features the Commission is investigating are determined to be violations of the DSA.

Persons: ”, TikTok didn’t, TikTok, we’ve Organizations: CNN, European Union, EU, Digital Services, DSA, European Commission, Lite, Commission, TikTok Locations: Spain, France, European, United States, Israel, Ukraine, TikTok

Within days, millions of TikTok videos using music from Universal artists went mute, and since then guessing which side would blink first has become a media-business parlor game. Backing this up, one study found that TikTok users reported experiencing higher levels of flow than Instagram users. Corey Basch, who analyzed 100 popular TikTok videos with the hashtag mentalhealth for a 2022 study, emerged concerned about the looping effect of the algorithm. Cerave Sales increased by more than 60 percent in 2020 after skin care became a lockdown pastime and TikTok users discovered the drugstore mainstay. Cat Crack Catnip It briefly sold out in 2021 after TikTok users posted videos of their cats going crazy for it.

Persons: randos, TikTok, you’ve, Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell, ”, “ Wonka, Barbie, “ Oppenheimer, —, goofing, cavorting, Sue Fleishman, Z’s Walter Cronkite, Spehar, Donald J, Trump, he’s, Caitlin Clark’s, Joe Biden, Justin Bieber, Abbie Richards, Richards, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X, Fleetwood Mac, Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Drake, Swift, ByteDance, can’t, Mark Warner, hasn’t, Al, ear on, Li Organizations: Fleetwood Mac, Facebook, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, White, Pew Research Center, YouTube, The New York Times, Kansas City Chiefs, Media, Colgate, Universal Music Group, ByteDance, Intelligence Committee, e Locations: United States, Beijing, Biden’s, TikTok, Singapore, View, Calif, China, American

☆ Steve Mnuchin breaks out the checkbook
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Elisabeth Buchwald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Mnuchin rebornNine months after President Joe Biden was inaugurated and Mnuchin left the Treasury Building, Mnuchin formed a new private equity group, Liberty Strategic Capital. Steven Mnuchin's private equity firm made a $450 million investment in New York Community Bank last week. When Mnuchin left CIT less than two years later, he received a $10.9 million severance package. “It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok,” Mnuchin told visibly stunned anchors on CNBC Thursday morning. Mnuchin may be the founder and managing partner of Liberty Strategic Capital, but Saudi Arabia is reportedly covering a big chunk of his firm’s tab.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Steven Mnuchin, Mnuchin, Joe Biden, Jackie ”, Trump, Goldman Sachs, ”, Liberty, Steven Mnuchin's, Spencer Platt, “ It’s, ” Mnuchin, “ You’re, ” Andrew Ross Sorkin, ” interjected, TikTok, “, he’s, Will Lanzoni, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Organizations: New, New York CNN, Treasury, Liberty Strategic Capital, Lionsgate, New York Community Bank, Getty, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, CIT Group, CIT, CNBC, CNN, Senate, Liberty Strategic, Crown, New York Times, Saudi Public Investment Fund, Meta, ByteDance . Liberty Strategic Locations: New York, cybersecurity, New, California, China, Montana, Saudi Arabia, Saudi, ByteDance

☆ Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is interested in buying TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Elisabeth Buchwald | Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday he’s assembling a team of investors to make a bid to buy TikTok. “It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok,” Mnuchin told CNBC Thursday morning. Even though TikTok is likely unprofitable, “it’s worth a lot of money,” he added. Mnuchin, though, said he’s looking to find a solution where the Chinese government will allow TikTok to be sold without a technology transfer. Even if that happens, any kind of TikTok ban would likely be fought in courts.

Persons: Steven Mnuchin, “ It’s, ” Mnuchin, TikTok, Mnuchin, “, ”, TikTok didn’t, Dan Ives, ” Ives, Donald Trump’s, Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace, didn’t, Thursday’s, Joe Biden, Ives Organizations: New, New York CNN, Former, CNBC, Wedbush Securities, CNN, Liberty Strategic Capital, Facebook, Meta, Community Bank, Senate, Microsoft, Oracle Locations: New York, China, Montana

☆ ‘Succession’ and ‘The Bear’ Win Big at Emmys
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Joseph Pisani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

“Succession,” “The Bear” and “Beef” dominated the 75th Emmy Awards on Monday night, winning top awards during a show that seemed like a throwback to another era, when TikTok didn’t exist and people still tuned in for appointment TV. FX’s “The Bear,” about a Chicago restaurant, won a total of 10 awards—the most of any show—including best comedy. Stars Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach picked up acting Emmys. “Succession,” about a media mogul and his family, won best drama for its final season, while Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook won acting accolades. “Beef,” a Netflix dark comedy, won best limited series and acting awards for Ali Wong and Steven Yeun.

Persons: ”, TikTok, Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss, Bachrach, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, “, Ali Wong, Steven Yeun Locations: Chicago

☆ The Biggest Emmys Moments, From ‘The Bear’ to ‘Succession’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Joseph Pisani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

“Succession,” “The Bear” and “Beef” won top awards in a show that seemed like a throwback to another era, when TikTok didn’t exist and people still tuned in for appointment TV. Host Anthony Anderson kicked it off as a modern-day Mister Rogers, sock-less and hanging up a fur coat instead of a blazer. The comedian and first-time Emmy host sang the 1970s and 1980s theme songs for “Good Times” and “The Facts of Life,” before moving on to honoring “Miami Vice” with Blink-182’s Travis Barker on the drums.

Persons: ”, Beef ”, TikTok, Anthony Anderson, Mister Rogers, “, Travis Barker Organizations: Beef, “ Good, “ Miami

☆ Google, Meta, Snap and TikTok must face teen addiction claims, federal judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Major social media companies must face allegations that their services addicted teen users and caused other mental health harms after a federal judge on Tuesday denied a motion to dismiss the bellwether lawsuit filed by a wave of consumer plaintiffs. The ruling paves the way for hundreds of plaintiffs to continue their case against the tech companies, and could indirectly lift the prospects for a bevy of similar suits filed by dozens of state attorneys general last month against Meta. “Protecting kids across our platforms has always been core to our work,” José Castañeda, a Google spokesperson, said in a statement. Gonzalez Rogers said Tuesday that Section 230 does shield the tech platforms from claims that try to hold the companies accountable as publishers of other users’ speech. For example, she said, the companies will not have to face claims they violated the law by implementing infinite news feeds or by using algorithms to increase user engagement.

Persons: Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, Gonzalez Rogers, TikTok didn’t, ” José, ” Lexi Hazam, Previn Warren, Chris Seeger Organizations: CNN, Google, Communications, Meta, YouTube

LONDON (AP) — The European Union on Thursday demanded Meta and TikTok detail their efforts to curb illegal content and disinformation during the Israel-Hamas war, flexing the power of a new law that threatens billions in fines if tech giants fail to do enough to protect users. The commission asked Meta and TikTok to explain the measures they have taken to reduce the risk of spreading and amplifying terrorist and violent content, hate speech and disinformation. It's the prelude to a possible crackdown under the new digital rules, which took effect in August and have made the EU a global leader in reining in Big Tech. The new rules, known as the Digital Services Act, are being put to the test by the Israel-Hamas war. Depending on their responses, Brussels could decide to open formal proceedings against Meta or TikTok and impose fines for “incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information,” the commission said.

Persons: Meta, Elon, Thierry Breton, —, ” Breton Organizations: Union, European Commission, Digital Services, DSA, Twitter, Meta Locations: Israel, EU, reining, Big Tech, Brussels

☆ Investors flock to defensive stocks and safe havens on worries about Israel-Hamas war
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The Israel-Hamas war is sending investors in search of defensive assets. Israel declared war on Hamas Sunday after the Palestinian militant group launched a brutal attack that killed at least 1,300 people. But investors have since bought up shares of virtually risk-free government bonds, indicating that Wall Street remains worried. Utilities, energy and real estate stocks have also outperformed the broader S&P 500 index’s roughly 1% gain this week. In August, a recently passed EU law known as the Digital Services Act went into effect for large online platforms, including the companies Breton addressed this week.

Persons: ”, George Smith, Bryan Hinmon, Hinmon, hasn’t, TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, Thierry Breton, Brian Fung, Breton, ” Breton, TikTok didn’t, Anna Cooban, ” Russia’s, Andrei Belousov, Read Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, CNN, Stock, Treasury, LPL, Twitter, Meta, Digital Services Locations: Israel, Palestinian, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Ukraine, Chew, Moscow

☆ EU officials warn TikTok over Israel-Hamas disinformation
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —EU officials warned TikTok Thursday about “illegal content and disinformation” on its platform linked to the war between Hamas and Israel, calling for CEO Shou Zi Chew to respond within 24 hours. In a letter to Chew, European Commissioner Thierry Breton said failure to comply with European Union laws around content moderation could result in penalties. It is the third such letter Breton has sent to large social media platforms this week, after he sent similar warnings to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and Meta. In August, a recently passed EU law known as the Digital Services Act went into effect for large online platforms including the companies Breton addressed this week. Since the war began, Breton wrote, TikTok has reportedly spread graphic videos and misleading content on the platform.

Persons: Shou Zi Chew, Thierry Breton, Breton, TikTok, ” Breton, TikTok didn’t Organizations: CNN, Twitter, Meta, Digital Services Locations: Israel, Chew

☆ TikTok fined $368 million in Europe for failing to protect children
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A major European tech regulator has ordered TikTok to pay a €345 million ($368 million) fine after ruling that the app failed to do enough to protect children. An investigation by the DPC found that in the latter half of 2020, TikTok’s default settings didn’t do enough to protect children’s accounts. TikTok introduced Family Pairing in April 2020, allowing adults to link their accounts with child accounts to manage screen time, restrict unwanted content and limit direct messaging to children. TikTok did not say Family Pairing would now be verifying an adult’s relationship to the child. In April, TikTok was also fined in the United Kingdom for a number of breaches of data protection law, including misusing children’s personal data.

Persons: TikTok, TikTok didn’t, ‘, “, ”, Elaine Fox, Fox Organizations: CNN, Irish Data Protection, European Union Locations: United Kingdom

☆ TikTok ‘stress test’ shows it’s not ‘fully ready’ for looming EU social media rules, commissioner says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Washington CNN —TikTok has “more work” to do to meet tough new European standards that are coming for social media and content moderation, according to a top EU official who performed a “stress test” of the company this week. “TikTok is dedicating significant resources to compliance,” Breton said, pointing to changes TikTok has made to its recommendation algorithms and its transparency procedures as evidence the company appears to be taking its obligations seriously. TikTok didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the test results. TikTok isn’t the only large tech platform to submit to an EU stress test. Last month, European officials evaluated Twitter’s platform for DSA compliance and also announced plans to stress test Facebook-parent Meta’s services.

Persons: Washington CNN — TikTok, Thierry Breton, Breton, Shou Chew, “, ” Breton, TikTok, didn’t Organizations: Washington CNN, EU, Digital Services, European Commission, DSA Locations: Dublin

☆ SlamBall: The sport ahead of its time is making a long-awaited comeback
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Thomas Schlachter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“SlamBall is special because it’s a brand that has lived on in social media in a really powerful way. Making its comeback for a 2023 summer league, SlamBall will be back on TV screens, via ESPN, and hopes to attract new viewers. The sport has lived on via social media clips of crazy moves. SlamBall LLCDreams becoming reality“I had this recurring dream all the time,” Gordon says of the origins of the sport. “Social media didn’t exist, Twitter didn’t exist, TikTok didn’t exist.”With incredible dunks like George Byrd's on Kevin Cassidy, SlamBall has huge viral potential.

Persons: Mason Gordon, SlamBall, ” Gordon, ”, Gordon, “, Gerard Gordeau, Taylor Wily, Markus Boesch, Stan “, ” Fletcher, Fletcher, ‘, Stan, Jim Heath, “ I’m, Fletcher’s SlamBall, Michael Jordan, Julius “ Dr, J ” Erving, Mike Tollin, SlamBall’s, Ben Peppi, George Byrd's, Kevin Cassidy, Pat Ecclesine, BringBackSlamBall, Pat Ecclesine ‘, “ There’s, it’s Organizations: CNN, NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, CNN Sport, ESPN, UFC, Mandalay Sports Media, Twitter, ’ Locations: Las Vegas, Los Angeles

☆ After Montana Banned TikTok, Users Sued. TikTok Is Footing Their Bill.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When five TikTok creators in Montana filed a lawsuit last month, saying the state’s new ban of the app violated their First Amendment rights and far outstripped the government’s legal authority, it appeared to be a grass-roots effort. One relevant fact that the creators and TikTok didn’t mention: The company is financing their case. When the case was filed, TikTok said it was weighing whether to file a separate one — a move the company made several days later. This week, Jodi Seth, a spokeswoman for TikTok, acknowledged that it was paying for the users’ lawsuit after two of them told The New York Times about the company’s involvement. “Many creators have expressed major concerns both privately and publicly about the potential impact of the Montana law on their livelihoods,” Ms. Seth said.

Persons: TikTok, Jodi Seth, Ms, Seth, ” Organizations: New York Times Locations: Montana

☆ UK bans TikTok on government devices
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Washington CNN —The United Kingdom banned TikTok from official government devices on Thursday, adding to similar restrictions imposed by allies in Canada, the European Union and the United States. “This is a proportionate move based on a specific risk with government devices,” UK Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Dowden told lawmakers Thursday. The UK announcement comes a day after TikTok said the US government had requested the company’s Chinese owners sell their shares or else risk a ban. In December, President Joe Biden signed legislation prohibiting TikTok on federal government devices, joining what has become a list of more than half of US states. US lawmakers have proposed expanding the Biden administration’s authority to enact a nationwide ban on TikTok.

☆ Democratic senator urges Apple and Google to ban TikTok from their app stores
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee is calling on Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores over concerns about national security, in the latest indication of mounting scrutiny on the short-form video app from members of Congress. The laws in question, Bennet wrote, require organizations in the country to “cooperate with state intelligence work” and to allow the government to access company resources. China could potentially try to shape what US users see on the app, Bennet warned, with possible implications for foreign policy and democracy. Apple, Google and TikTok didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Some other US officials have also called on Apple and Google to voluntarily remove TikTok from their app stores.

☆ TikTok CEO to testify before Congress in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify at an upcoming hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a committee spokesperson confirmed to CNN Monday. “We’ve made our concerns clear with TikTok,” said the committee’s chair, Washington Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, in a statement. The high-profile hearing underscores the rising political risk for TikTok as its negotiations with the US government on a national security deal continue to drag on. Chew, who took over as TikTok CEO in April 2021, has largely stayed out of the spotlight at a time when the app he leads can’t seem to avoid it. Members of Congress previously grilled TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas, arguably the public face of the company in the United States, during a Senate hearing last year.

☆ House Republicans say TikTok made misleading claims in briefings on data handling
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN Business —House Republicans say TikTok may have misled congressional staff in private briefings about the company’s handling of US user data, in a new letter to the short-form video app this week. And it foreshadows how House Republicans, having gained a majority in the 2022 midterm elections, are likely to approach TikTok in the coming months. “Both claims appear to be misleading at best, and at worst, false,” Comer and McMorris Rodgers wrote. Tuesday’s letter calls on TikTok to preserve a broad swath of documents, communications and other records, in a preview of how House lawmakers could investigate the company in the coming months. And it reiterated a half-dozen other requests for information the GOP lawmakers had sent to the company during the summer.

While some creators have been pumping out videos about the midterm elections, searching “midterms” on TikTok shows many young creators are more interested in discussing their midterm exams. “Not a lot of people know about it,” Meadow Treadwell, 20, said about her college-age peers and the midterm elections. “With midterms, I don’t know if it’s because I’m not on that side of TikTok, but I haven’t seen any.”The “midterms” hashtag is full of content about academic midterms. Content with the hashtag “midterm exam” has 16 million views and content with the hashtag “midterm elections 2022” has 12 million views. Polling data suggests young voters are less enthusiastic in 2022 than they were in 2018, when 36% of young voters turned out.

Floridians are giving TikTok users a front-row seat to Hurricane Ian. Dozens of TikTok users in Florida used TikTok’s livestream feature on Wednesday to offer a window into their lives as the hurricane approached. Some comments trickling in sent the woman prayers, while others predicted her “house will disappear.” TikTok didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the hurricane livestreams. TikTok introduced its livestream feature in 2019, and it has since become a popular way of creating content on the app. TikTok’s livestreaming feature has been used for fun but also to share breaking news, such as when Russia invaded Ukraine.

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