When you open the app, you’re immediately served this unending stream of really short videos.Īnd very quickly, the app starts paying attention to what you do next. And it really sought to be more like television, less of a traditional social media app. And then other users can remix them.Īnd TikTok is less about connecting with your family and friends and more about getting you to watch all these short videos. You can apply different clips of music or sounds to your videos. People are really able to just take out their phone and start filming. There’s all these different things that make TikTok so accessible. What does he do to make this one break through? sapna maheshwari OK, so he gets this foothold into the American market through this other app, Musical.ly. And that’s kind of his stepping stone into an American audience. And then repackages it into a new app called TikTok. And after trying to imitate it a bit, he goes on to try and acquire it, which he does. He took a real interest in this, saw how it was resonating with young people. And it had this cult following with American teenagers. It was best known as an app where you could make short videos with music. But everything really picks up a few years later when he notices a breakout app in the US called Musical.ly. So ByteDance starts out making popular apps in China. So, Sapna, how did he go about trying to achieve that dream? What did he do? sapna maheshwari And you could see where his aspirations were going. And he was known for putting this motto on the walls that said “Always Day One.” It was a motivational phrase that was taken directly from Amazon.
He would quote tech icons like Steve Jobs.
And what’s really interesting is he carried that dream into the ByteDance corporate culture. So he wanted to create products that everyone around the world would use, be the Chinese Mark Zuckerberg. I’m going to make something that’s global, that transcends our borders, and put China on the map. And he was looking at the contributions these people had made and was thinking, I want to make something like that but from China. This was a young man who was very much inspired by companies like Amazon, by people like Mark Zuckerberg. And it was founded in 2012 by a Chinese entrepreneur named Zhang Yiming. So we have to start with the company that owns TikTok, ByteDance with a Y. So, Sapna, how did we get here? I mean, how did a Chinese company create one of the most beloved apps in America? sapna maheshwari And this moment is really pivotal because the Biden administration is saying, hey, this is a huge risk. But because of the company’s Chinese ownership, US officials have said that there is a chance that TikTok could be used by the Chinese government to collect information on Americans or influence them through TikTok’s content. And when you look at TikTok and you look at what teens are watching, that may sound crazy on the face of it. So, basically, for a long time now, the government has been worried about national security concerns tied to TikTok. What is the fear here? What’s the government saying? sapna maheshwari So a ban seems like a pretty drastic thing, Sapna. And just recently, the Biden administration reportedly told TikTok that it wants the company’s Chinese ownership to sell TikTok or face a possible ban in the US. And that ownership has increasingly been raising skepticism and alarm bells with the US government. They’re on it all the time.īut TikTok, while it appears on your phone with apps like Instagram and Snapchat and Twitter, stands apart from these companies because it’s owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance. So TikTok is, of course, a super popular app. And for many months now, it has been surrounded by lots of controversy. And you cover TikTok, which is, of course, an extremely popular app that lots of people are using. So, Sapna, you’re a business reporter for The Times. Today, Sapna Maheshwari on how an app known for videos of lip syncing, dancing, and bread baking is now seen by the US government as a threat to national security. In recent weeks, the Biden administration has threatened to ban it. TikTok is one of the most popular apps in the country, used by one out of every three Americans. sabrina taverniseįrom “The New York Times,” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email with any questions. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. This transcript was created using speech recognition software. government has expressed concerns that the app may endanger sensitive user data. Transcript How TikTok Became a Matter of National Security The U.S.
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