A Chinese government entity responsible for public relations attempted to open a stealth account on TikTok targeting Western audiences with propaganda, according to internal messages seen by Bloomberg.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/25/tiktok-insiders-say-chinese-parent-bytedance-in-control.html
Former TikTok employees say there is cause for concern when it comes to the popular social media app’s Chinese parent company.
They say ByteDance has access to TikTok’s American user data and is closely involved in the Los Angeles company’s decision-making and product development.
Some cybersecurity experts worry that the Chinese government could use TikTok to spread propaganda or censorship to American audience, or to exercise influence over users who may come to regret what they posted on the service.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/cheap-chinese-smartphones-malware
Preinstalled malware on low-cost Chinese phones has stolen data and money from some of the world’s poorest people.
Current security concerns about Chinese apps and hardware have largely focused on potential back doors in Huawei’s 5G equipment. More recently, people have focused on how user data collected by TikTok could be abused by the company and the Chinese government. But an overlooked and ongoing threat is the consistent presence of malware on cheap smartphones from Chinese manufacturers and how it exacts a digital tax on people with low incomes.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tiktok-indonesia-exclusive-idUSKCN2591ML
local moderators were instructed by a team from ByteDance’s Beijing headquarters to delete articles seen as “negative” about Chinese authorities
https://www.nrk.no/urix/tiktok-_-sa-kan-du-vaere-i-lomma-pa-en-fremmed-makt-1.15105847
Musikk- og danse-appen TikTok lastes ned for uskyldig moro og tidtrøyte. Men kan den bli et redskap for å undergrave demokratiske land?
https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/26/21304228/tiktok-security-ios-clipboard-access-ios14-beta-feature
A beta feature on iOS 14 showed what the app was up to
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/22/us/politics/totok-app-uae.html
ToTok, an Emirati messaging app that has been downloaded to millions of phones, is the latest escalation of a digital arms race.
ToTok is a cleverly designed tool for mass surveillance, according to the technical analysis and interviews, in that it functions much like the myriad other Apple and Android apps that track users’ location and contacts.
On the surface, ToTok tracks users’ location by offering an accurate weather forecast. It hunts for new contacts any time a user opens the app, under the pretense that it is helping connect with their friends, much like how Instagram flags Facebook friends. It has access to users’ microphones, cameras, calendar and other phone data. Even its name is an apparent play on the popular Chinese app TikTok.