Think TikTok is based in China? Think again. Maybe you\u2019re a marketer who believes decisions about TikTok are made in Beijing. You\u2019d swear that the app was inextricably linked to the Chinese government. Wrong on both counts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In fact, the whole idea that TikTok is really spyware is nothing more than a myth, according to the app. And it wants marketers to know it. So much so that TikTok execs have been meeting up with marketers to try and dispel the so-called myths about the app\u2019s ties to China \u2014 myths that were brought into sharp focus last week when CEO Shou Chew testified before U.S. lawmakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Call it damage control.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s a lot to control. Some 16 myths, to be precise. All of them are featured below in the document TikTok ad execs have been sharing with marketers following the congressional hearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For those readers who are short on time, here\u2019s the cliffsnotes:\u00a0<\/p>\n
There have long been concerns about TikTok\u2019s ownership \u2013 namely that ByteDance is a Chinese company, and that company has ties to the Chinese Government. TikTok states that while ByteDance was indeed founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, around 60% of it is owned by institutional investors: Carlyle Group, General Atlantic and Susquehanna International Group \u2013 so it\u2019s predominantly a private equity-backed business nowadays. And let\u2019s not forget its five-strong board; three out of five of which are U.S. based, with the remaining two residing in Singapore and Hong Kong, respectively.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s well known that to operate news and information products within mainland China, media licenses are required, and the Chinese Government will legally own 1% of those entities. But TikTok doesn\u2019t operate in mainland China, only its Chinese counterpart Douyin does, so those rules don\u2019t apply.<\/p>\n
TikTok has always positioned itself as an entertainment app, meaning the content is predominantly UGC \u2014 not content created by the Chinese Government. And given that TikTok can\u2019t be accessed in China, it makes sense that the app\u2019s content moderation takes place elsewhere, by the platform\u2019s U.S. and Ireland Trust and Safety teams, which oversee the content for the US and Europe, respectively.<\/p>\n
Since Trump\u2019s loud call to ban the app back in 2020, TikTok has touted Project Texas as its way of appeasing concerns about how user data is managed. And even at the hearing, Project Texas was used as a response to answer numerous repeated questions from Congress. But since June 2022, 100% of U.S. data has been routed to Oracle and USDU infrastructure, which is managed by, you guessed it, Americans, in the U.S..<\/p>\n