Spying, sadness, substance abuse - Here's the potential hazard of using TikTok.
The behavior of politicians: being contradictory and indecisive.
The prime example: US President Joe Biden (81). He recently signed a law demanding the Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok in the US within the next nine months - or else it could be banned. The issue in the White House: China's authoritarian rule is behind the app, spying on millions of US citizens. TikTok has already filed a lawsuit against it.
Ridiculous: On the day Biden signed the law, he uploaded a video to the Chinese app. The subject: a voter thanking him for the good pension.
What is TikTok all about?
Developed in 2016 by the Chinese Zhang Yiming (41). The impact: maximum addiction - since the app always seems to be one step ahead, knowing what the user wants to see before they do. There are videos on everything: politics, art, city trips, but also lots of nonsense and weirdness.
▶︎ How it works: Users watch a video on their phone. If they don't like it, they can quickly swipe it upwards with their finger. A new one pops up from below.
The algorithm immediately recognizes what the user likes based on how long they watch it. Each video that follows is even more in line with the user's interests. The clips are short, typically 60 seconds long. This ensures speed. There is absolutely no boredom. TikTok is just a quick swipe of the finger and you're off to the races.
Two weeks ago, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (54, Greens) was also caught up in the TikTok obsession and started his own channel.
According to Habeck, he knows it's a "tightrope walk" he wanted to avoid. But he wanted to "go where other parties don't" and reach schoolchildren.
The fact is: the far-right party is particularly successful in attracting votes through the dance-laugh-gossip app and has 3.6 million followers. All other parties have 1.2 million - combined!
Politicians are active on TikTok, but they always warn of the risks and consequences. The Chancellery even has a special phone for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's (65, SPD) account that is never connected to government Wi-Fi for fear of Chinese espionage!
Ulrich Kelber, the country's top data protection official, advised against using TikTok on a work phone. Deputy President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Sinan Selen admitted to having "stomach pains" when it comes to the platform.
And EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen would like to remove this dilemma. "We know exactly how harmful TikTok is," she said last week, and didn't rule out a ban. A week earlier, her commission warned of harm to children and young people with the secondary app TikTok Lite and threatened sanctions. The company then removed a feature where watching videos was rewarded with vouchers for goods.
In general, the EU criticizes the addictive potential of TikTok for young users and the dangers to their mental health.
"TikTok should be banned"
The greatest app concern is that China dictator Xi Jinping and his apparatus could control TikTok. Stefan Hessel, a data protection lawyer, told BamS: "We have a political conflict." The app is believed to be involved in espionage due to its proximity to China and possible data theft.
However, according to Hessel, TikTok cannot be banned in Germany due to data protection violations, as the law does not allow this. "If you want to control TikTok, you can only do so through antitrust law."
This means that action could only be taken if TikTok's dominance became overwhelming.
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Source: symclub.org
