TikTok

TikTok begins testing an early version of its platform research API • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 17, 2022Posted in Apps, Social, TikTokNo Comments

Earlier this year, TikTok announced that it’s developing a research API to improve access to public and anonymized data about content and activity on its app. Now, the company says it’s ready to make a beta version of its platform research API available and has asked members of its Content and Safety Advisory Councils to test an early version of the API. “To get started, we’ve asked members of our Content and Safety Advisory Councils with expertise in misinformation, violent extremism, hateful behavior, and emerging technologies to test an early version of our platform research API,” TikTok said in a blog post. “They’ll have access to public data as we gather their feedback on usability and the overall experience. We’re dedicated to hearing and incorporating feedback from testers and creating an API that will meet the needs of the scientific community while respecting the privacy of our community.” At the time of the initial announcement, TikTok said researchers currently don’t have an easy way to assess content or conduct tests on its platform, which is why it saw the need for a research API. In addition to the platform research API, TikTok is developing a content moderation API. The company plans to share more details in the coming months. The moderation system API will give select researchers a way to evaluate TikTok’s content moderation systems and examine existing content on the app. Researchers will also be able to upload their own content to see how different types of content are either permitted, rejected or passed to moderators for further evaluation. TikTok’s update on its research API work comes amid renewed calls from FCC commissioner Brendan Carr to ban the app. This wasn’t the first time Carr voiced this idea. After BuzzFeed News reported data improprieties implied by leaked internal communications, Carr wrote in June to Apple and Google calling the app an “unacceptable national security risk” and asking the companies to remove it from their app stores.

Browser maker Opera adds built-in TikTok support to desktop sidebar function • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 15, 2022Posted in Opera, Social, TikTokNo Comments

Web browser developer Opera announced today that it added a built-in TikTok feature to the sidebar of its desktop browser, allowing users to scroll through TikTok videos and post content without opening a separate app or creating a new tab. To enable the feature, Opera users must right-click on the browser sidebar and go to the Messengers section. Once enabled, users can open the sidebar and scroll through their TikTok feed on the left-hand side of their screen before returning to what they were doing on their main page. While adding sidebar functionality isn’t new, Opera claims to be the only browser to integrate TikTok in its sidebar. Opera has already added various messengers and social media platforms to its sidebar, including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Twitter. Joanna Czajka, Product Director at Opera, said in a statement, “Typically, people who have started using the messengers and social media platforms available through Opera’s sidebar do not want to go back to a world without them.” Plus, according to Opera’s survey, the built-in TikTok feature was widely requested by respondents between 18 and 35 years old, the company told ZebethMedia. Fifty-four percent of Opera users in the U.S. from the 18-25 age group use TikTok. Still, it’s an interesting move for Opera to roll out a built-in TikTok feature since many users opt for the mobile app. Sensor Tower recently reported that TikTok was the highest-grossing app in the world. In the first quarter of 2022, the social video app had been downloaded over 175 million times. What’s more, app intelligence firm data.ai found that users in more than 12 worldwide markets spend four to five hours per day on apps, with TikTok being among the top apps based on downloads, consumer spend and monthly active users. So, while it’s unlikely the billions of TikTok users will use the lesser-known Opera browser to entertain themselves in between tasks, many Opera users will probably get a kick out of the new feature. “TikTok has developed from a platform full of short funny videos to a source of entertainment, news, and inspiration. With this release, Opera is answering our users’ requests to have TikTok at their fingertips,” added Czajka.

Facebook, TikTok, Twitter failed election integrity test in Kenya’s elections • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 11, 2022Posted in Media & Entertainment, meta, political misinformation, Social, TikTok, TwitterNo Comments

Social media platforms Facebook, TikTok and Twitter did not live up to their election integrity pledges during Kenya’s August elections, according to a new study by the Mozilla Foundation. The report says content labeling failed to stop misinformation, as political advertising served to amplify propaganda. The study found that hours after voting ended in Kenya these social media platforms were awash with mis- and disinformation on candidates that were purported to have won the elections, and that labeling by Twitter and Tiktok was spotty and failed to stop the spread of these falsehoods. It says that the spotty labeling of posts calling the elections ahead of the official announcement affected some parties more than others, which made the platforms seem partisan. Facebook failed majorly on this front by not having “any visible labels” during the elections, allowing the spread of propaganda — like claims of the kidnapping and arrest of a prominent politician, which had been debunked by local media houses. Facebook recently put a label on the original post claiming kidnapping and arrest of the prominent politician. “The days following Kenya’s federal election were an online dystopia. More than even, we needed platforms to fulfill their promises of being trustworthy places for election information. Instead, they were just the opposite: places of conspiracy, rumor, and false claims of victory,” said Odanga Madung, the Mozilla Tech and Society Fellow who conducted the study and previously raised concerns over the platforms inability to moderate content in the lead up to the Kenya’s elections. Mozilla found similar failures during the 2021 German elections. “This is especially disheartening given the platform’s pledges leading up to the election. In just a matter of hours after the polls closed, it became clear that Facebook, TikTok and Twitter lack the resources and cultural context to moderate election information in the region.” Prior to the elections these platforms had issued statements on measures they were taking in the lead up to Kenya’s elections including partnerships with fact-checking organizations. Madung said that in markets like Kenya, where the trust level of institutions is low and challenged, there was need to study how labeling as solution (which had been tested in western contexts) could be applied in these markets too. Kenya’s general election this year was unlike any other as the country’s electoral body the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) released all results data to the public in its quest for transparency. Media houses, parties of main presidential contenders– Dr. William Ruto (now president) and Raila Odinga, and individual citizens conducted parallel tallies that yielded varying results, which further “trigger[ed] confusion and anxiety nationwide.” “This untamed anxiety found its home in online spaces where a plethora of mis- and disinformation was thriving: premature and false claims of winning candidates, unverified statements pertaining to voting practices, fake and parody public figure accounts…” Madung added that platforms implemented interventions when it was too late, and ended soon after elections. This is despite knowledge that in countries like Kenya, where results have been challenged in court in the last three elections, more time and effort is required to counter mis- and disinformation. Political advertising The study also found that Facebook allowed politicians to advertise 48 hours to the election day, breaking Kenya’s law, which requires campaigns to end two days before the polls. It found that individuals could still purchase ads, and that Meta applied less stringent rules in Kenya unlike in markets like the U.S. Madung also identified several ads containing premature election results and announcements, something Meta said it did not allow, raising the question of safety. “None of the ads had any warning labels on them — the platform (Meta) simply took the advertiser’s money and allowed them to spread unverified information to audiences,” it said. “Seven ads may hardly be considered to be dangerous. But what we identified along with findings from other researchers suggests that if the platform couldn’t identify offending content in what was supposed to be its most controlled environment, then questions should be raised of whether there is any safety net on the platform at all,” said the report. Meta told ZebethMedia that it “relies on advertisers to ensure they comply with the relevant electoral laws” but has set measures that ensure compliance and transparency including also verifying persons posting ads. “We prepared extensively for the Kenyan elections over the past year and implemented a number of measures to keep people safe and informed- including tools to make political ads more transparent, so people can scrutinize them and hold those responsible to account. We make this clear in our Advertising Standards that advertisers must ensure they comply with the relevant electoral laws in the country they want to issue ads,” said Meta Spokesperson. Mozilla is calling on the platforms to be transparent on the actions they take on their systems to uncover what works in stemming dis- and misinformation, and to initiate interventions early enough (before elections are held) and after sustain the efforts after the results have been declared.

YouTube begins rolling out Shorts on TV globally starting today • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 7, 2022Posted in Apps, Media & Entertainment, short-form video, shorts, TikTok, Video, YouTube TVNo Comments

YouTube is expanding the reach of its TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts, with today’s announcement that it will begin rolling out Shorts on TV to its global users. The company’s updated smart TV app will now allow users to view the popular vertical videos in an optimized experience that’s designed to feel more consistent with what users see on mobile, YouTube explains. This was a challenge given that YouTube Shorts, like TikTok, were largely meant to be watched on smaller smartphone screens. The new Shorts-watching feature will require a smart TV from 2019 or later, a newer gaming console or a streaming device, YouTube says. The videos themselves can be found on new Shorts shelf on the homepage of the YouTube app or on a creator’s channel page. In a blog post, the company detailed the different design experiments it researched in coming up with the final concept for Shorts on TV. It found Shorts videos didn’t look great in the YouTube app’s conventional video player, which had too much black space on either side of the vertical video. It also considered a “jukebox” style format which would line up three Shorts side-by-side to take full advantage of the TV’s screen without leaving any additional space on the sides. But this experience was not only cluttered, it also deviated from how Shorts are meant to be viewed — one-by-one. The design YouTube landed on is a customized option that attempts to better fill in the sides of the video with a color-sampled blurred background and an outline around the video that resembles a smartphone’s screen. It then further iterated on this format to add more functionality off to the side of the video, including information about the creator, the sound used in the video, and thumbs-up and down buttons. This information can be displayed by clicking the right button on your remote. In this initial rollout, viewers can subscribe to a creator’s channel in addition to liking or disliking the video after viewing. The company plans to introduce more community features over time, it says. When watching Shorts, you can also use the remote to start or stop the video from playing by clicking directly on the short or by using the Play and Pause buttons on the remote control itself. The Short will continue to play until you advance to the next Short using your remote. You can use the up and down buttons on the remote to move to the next video or return to a prior Short, YouTube says. The company noted it was unusual for consumers to prefer to use the remote control to move through the Shorts videos, as typically watching videos on TV is more of a lean-back experience. But in this case, it found that viewers wanted to manually control which Short played or which they skipped, as they would on mobile. While today YouTube Shorts are watched by over 1.5 billion logged-in users every month, there hasn’t been a way to watch them on the big screen until now as the YouTube app hasn’t allowed users to cast Shorts to their TV and the main TV app didn’t support Shorts viewing. The expansion of Shorts to TV will help YouTube to better challenge TikTok, which had also rolled out its own TV app to various platforms last year, including Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, Android TV OS and select LG and Samsung Smart TVs in North America. TikTok had also offered a TV app for Google TV and Android TV in the U.K., France and Germany, and on Samsung TVs in the U.K. But unlike TikTok’s TV app, YouTube’s TV app has the advantage of being pre-installed on many smart TV platforms. And its rollout is global. However, users won’t necessarily gain immediate access to the feature today as these sorts of rollouts take time. The company says all users should gain the ability to view Shorts in the “coming weeks.”

YouTube will soon roll out a ‘Go Live Together’ co-streaming feature to select creators • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 4, 2022Posted in Apps, Media & Entertainment, TikTok, Twitch, YouTubeNo Comments

YouTube is gearing up to roll out a new feature that will allow select creators to invite a guest to go live with them, the company announced on its Creator Insider channel and in a blog post. At launch, creators will only be able to co-stream via a phone, as the feature won’t available on the desktop version of YouTube. The new feature will initially only be available to a select group of creators, but YouTube plans to expand co-streaming to more creators in the future. Creators can schedule a live stream with a guest from their computer and then go live from a mobile phone. Or, they can go live immediately from their mobile phone. Although you can rotate guests on your live stream, you can only have one guest appear at a time. Once you invite a guest, your stream feed will show above your guest’s. In the next few weeks, some creators will be able to select the new “Go Live Together” button on their accounts. Creators need to start by entering their stream details, including the title, description, monetization settings, thumbnails and visibility settings. After selecting the “Invite a co-streamer” option, creators will be able to choose a guest to invite to their live stream. After the guest clicks the invite, they will be sent to a waiting room. When both people are ready, the host can tap the “Go Live” button. YouTube’s guest streams can run advertisements, but revenue will solely go to the host. It’s worth noting that the stream won’t appear on the guest’s channel, but YouTube says it’s aware that visibility on guest channels is important, which indicates that the company could potentially ship the feature in the future. The launch of the new feature comes as TikTok and Twitch recently launched their own co-streaming features. A few weeks ago, TikTok rolled out a new feature called “Multi-Guest” that lets hosts go live with up to five other people using a grid or panel layout. Last week, Twitch officially launched a new feature called Guest, which lets streamers easily pull other creators and fans into their streams for talk show-like experience. Guest Star makes it possible for anyone to pull up to five speakers into a stream at once. Unlike with YouTube’s co-streaming feature, TikTok and Twitch both allow you go live with more than one person. Given that YouTube’s co-streaming is still in the early stages, it’s possible that it may expand the limit to allow creators to go live with multiple people.

ByteDance’s music app Resso offers hints about TikTok Music’s launch • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 4, 2022Posted in Apps, bytedance, resso, Spotify, TikTokNo Comments

TikTok owner ByteDance is moving towards a launch its music streaming service TikTok Music, rivaling Spotify and YouTube Music, reports have stated. In addition to recent discoveries of TikTok Music trademarks in global markets, ZebethMedia has now discovered newly added references regarding a “TikTok Music” service in the Resso streaming app, owned by TikTok’s parent ByteDance. The code appears to suggest that user activity may sync between the Resso app and TikTok Music, and specifically refers to a “music.tiktok.com” URL, as well. ByteDance today already operates the streaming music service named Resso in markets including in India, Brazil, and Indonesia. But the references to TikTok Music in the Resso app hint that the China-based company might sync user activity between the two apps. In addition, the code refers to TikTok Music as part of TikTok. Image Credits: ZebethMedia It’s unclear whether TikTok will test its music service under the Resso moniker globally, or launch a separate app for that. The company has also launched a site “music.tiktok.com” for certain regions — references of which were also found in the code — suggesting that the service may launch first in Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Malaysia, and Singapore. You can’t download the client yet, and if you try to click on the download button a pop will tell you “We are working hard to bring you the desktop version. Check back soon.” The mobile version of the site suggests that the download button will take users to the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. Image Credits: TikTok The site’s terms of service also uses the brand “TikTok Music,” we found. “Welcome to TikTok Music! TikTok Music, one of our Services defined under the TikTok Terms, is a music streaming service that allows users to listen to music,” the term page reads. Many of the pages on the site have placeholder text indicating that it is still under development. This could mean that ByteDance is preparing to start testing the service in certain geographies. The code references aren’t the only hints that a TikTok Music brand is in the works. The company has also recently registered verified “TikTok Music”-branded social media handles on Twitter and Instagram, as well as region-specific handles for areas like Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, and Asia, and countries like Singapore, and Malaysia. These accounts have posted similar creative teasers saying “Welcome to a new way to experience music,” “discover your new favorite song,” and “stay tuned” between April and May. These moves fall in line with information a former ByteDance employee told ZebethMedia earlier this year. They told us ByteDance had previously considered bringing the Resso service to more markets under a “TikTok Music” branding. More specifically, it had been weighing launches in mature markets like the U.K. and Australia, the source had said. Last month, The Wall Street Journal also reported that ByteDance was in talks with notable music labels to expand its streaming service to global markets. A TikTok Music service would make sense for ByteDance as many hit songs first become viral on TikTok and drive streams on Spotify and YouTube. A report released by the company last year suggested that 175 songs that trended on the short-video platform ended up on the Billboard 100 chart. If ByteDance launches its own music service, it could drive these streams toward its own app — whether that’s Resso or TikTok Music — allowing it to earn advertising and subscription revenue. ByteDance has shown interest in furthering its music investments. Earlier this year, it launched its own music distribution solution called SoundOn. With this service, the company pays 100% royalties to the artists for the first year, then 90% royalties from the second year. The platform also allows artists to drop teasers on TikTok to get early feedback. TikTok Music’s popularity will depend its ability to score deals with major labels, allowing it to offer users access to popular songs in addition to the original songs that launch first on TikTok. This could prove difficult. In September, Sony Music pulled its catalog from Resso, resulting in user backlash, for example. TikTok didn’t reply to requests for comment on this story.

TikTok privacy update in Europe confirms China staff access to data as GDPR probe continues • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 3, 2022Posted in China, data transfers, GDPR, Government & Policy, Privacy, Social, TikTokNo Comments

An incoming privacy policy change announced by TikTok yesterday for users in Europe — which, for the first time, names China as one of several third countries where user data can be remotely accessed by “certain” company employees to perform what it claims are “important” functions — has landed months ahead of expected movement on a year+ long investigation into the platform’s data exports to China under the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR probe into the legality of the video sharing platform’s data transfers to China is being led by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), TikTok’s lead privacy regulator in the region, which opened the inquiry just over a year ago. The DPC told ZebethMedia today that it expects its TikTok data transfers inquiry to progress to the next stage in the coming months — with a draft decision slated to be sent to other EU DPAs for review in the first quarter of next year. This ‘Article 60’ review process could lead either to an affirming of Ireland’s draft decision — which would then, in relatively short order, allow for a final decision to be issued (potentially before the middle of next year, judging by past inquiry timelines). However if other EU regulators raise objections to Ireland’s draft decision the inquiry would have to move to an ‘Article 65’ dispute resolution process — which could add many more months to the process before a final decision could be issued as the bloc’s regulators seek consensus. It’s not clear whether TikTok’s announcement of the privacy policy tweak relates to this overarching GDPR investigation. The incoming changes — which are due to apply from December 2 — do also include an update on how the platform collects users location information so they are not wholly focused on data transfers. But the disclosure of China staffers accessing European user data could also be a not-very-subtle attempt to pre-empt regulatory enforcement over its data transfers — and try to soften a future blow by being able to point to steps already taken to improve its transparency with European users. (Not that that is the only potential issue of regulatory concern vis-a-vis data exports, though.) A spokesman for TikTok declined to comment on whether its updated privacy policy is in any way linked to the GDPR inquiry — saying it could not do so as the inquiry remains ongoing. However in a blog post announcing the update, the company claimed the changes “include greater transparency into how we share user information outside of Europe”. That’s notable because transparency is a key principle of the GDPR — while infringements of the transparency principle can lead to stiff penalties (such as the $267M fine for Meta-owned WhatsApp last year, after an Ireland-led inquiry found a string of transparency breaches). Claiming you’re being transparent and actually being transparent are not necessarily the same thing, of course. So it’s worth noting that TikTok’s updated privacy policy appears to atomize key bits of information — such as the full list of third countries countries where employees may remotely access European users’ data and for what specific reasons — across a number of collapsable menus and hyperlinks spread throughout the policy, thereby requiring a user to click around, follow multiple links and basically hunt for relevant intel amid a larger morass of data in order to piece together a comprehensive view of what’s happening with their data (rather than clearly articulating and collating everything into a single, easy to digest view…). So, if it’s transparency TikTok is really shooting for here it still looks like it has work to do. Also still a work in progress for TikTok: A data localization project to store European users’ data in the region — which, earlier this year, it announced had been delayed again (until 2023). Thing is, if TikTok intends to continue to allow employees located in third countries with no EU adequacy agreement affirming they have essentially equivalent data protection standards as the bloc to have remote access to European users’ information then questions over the legality of its international data transfers are likely to persist. As well as China, TikTok’s privacy policy names Brazil, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and the US (which has only a preliminary agreement with the EU for a fresh data transfer agreement atm) as countries where employees have remote access to European user data without the cover of an adequacy agreement — saying it’s relying on standard contractual clauses (SCCs) for these transfers. But, as the EDPB guidance on data transfers points out, each transfer to a third country must be individually assessed and some may not be possible legally, even with supplementary measures applied. So every single one of these transfers will need to stand up to regulatory scrutiny. Given so many third country transfers, TikTok’s European data localization project can only — at least for now — be considered a PR exercise. And/or an attempt to curry favor with local regulators in the hopes they take a kinder view of ongoing data exports. Unless or until it ceases data exports to third countries and finds a way to fully firewall its parent entity in China from being able to access any European users’ data in the clear. TikTok’s spokesman declined to comment on any future plans it may have to further adapt its data transfers in light of these challenges but he pointed back to its blog post — which describes its approach to data governance in Europe as being “centred on limiting the number of employees with access to European user data, minimising data flows outside of the region, and storing European user data locally”. TikTok’s wider problem is that it’s facing dialled up regulatory scrutiny across the Western world more generally as a result of security concerns attached to the Chinese state’s ability to gain access to data commercial platforms/services hold on their users — with national security laws in its home country overriding the usual standard contractual protections. Its platform

They’re not going to ban TikTok (but…) • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 1, 2022Posted in bytedance, Government & Policy, Social, TikTokNo Comments

We’ve been hearing for years how TikTok hoovers up data globally and presents it to its parent company in China, and potentially thence to the powers that be. But despite renewed calls today from FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, the popular app is very unlikely to be outright banned. That doesn’t mean it will be allowed to carry on with impunity, though. Commissioner Carr’s opinion appeared in an interview with Axios, during which he stated that he doesn’t believe “anything other than a ban” would be sufficient to protect Americans’ data from collection by Chinese companies and authorities. (To be clearhis is him expressing his own position, not the FCC’s; I asked two others at the agency for comment and have not received any response.) This isn’t the first time Carr has voiced this idea. After BuzzFeed News reported data improprieties implied by leaked internal communications, he wrote in June to Apple and Google calling the app an “unacceptable national security risk” and asking the companies to remove it from their app stores. They didn’t, and now it’s back to the question of federal action — first pondered by the Trump administration, which despite many actions restricting China’s reach in the U.S. never managed to get a lock on TikTok. The reason for that is pretty simple: it would be political self-sabotage. TikTok is not just a wildly popular app, it’s the liferaft to which a generation that abandoned the noble ships Facebook, Instagram, and soon Twitter have clung for years. And the reason why is that American companies haven’t come close to replicating TikTok’s feat of algorithmic addiction. TikTok’s success in gluing Gen Z to their phones isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing — that’s a different discussion. Taking as a given its place in the zeitgeist, however, it makes a ban politically risky for multiple reasons. First, it would be tremendously unpopular. The disaffected-youth vote is supremely important right now, and any President, Senator, or Representative who supports such a ban would be given extreme side-eye by the youth. Already out of touch with technology and the priorities of the younger generation, D.C. would now also be seen as fun police. Whether that would drive voters to the other side or just cause them to not vote, there aren’t any good outcomes. Banning TikTok does not secure votes and that is fatal before you even start thinking about how to do it. (Not to mention it kind of looks like the government intervening to give flailing U.S. social media companies a boost.) Second, there isn’t a clear path to a ban. The FCC can’t do it (no jurisdiction). Despite the supposed national security threat, the Pentagon can’t do it (ditto). The feds can’t force Apple and Google to do it (First Amendment). Congress won’t do it (see above). An executive order won’t do it (too broad). No judge will do it (no plausible case). All paths to bans are impractical for one reason or another. Third, any effective ban would be a messy, drawn-out, contested thing with no guarantee of success. Imagine that somehow the government forced Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their stores and remotely wipe or disable it on phones. No one likes that look — the companies look too weak and too strong, letting the feds push them around and then showing off their power to reach out and touch “your” device. An IP-based ban would be easily circumvented but also set another unpleasant censorship precedent that ironically would make the U.S. look a lot more like China. And even should either or both of these be attempted, they’d be opposed in court by not just ByteDance but companies from around the world that don’t want the same thing to happen to them if they get a hit and the government doesn’t like it. For those reasons and more, an outright ban by law, decision or act of god is a very unlikely thing. But don’t worry: there are other tools in the toolbox. If you can’t beat ’em, bother ’em Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / ZebethMedia The government may not be able to kick TikTok out of the country, but that doesn’t mean they have to be nice about letting them stay. In fact, it’s probable that they’ll do their best to make it downright unpleasant. The company and service exists in something of a loophole, regulator-wise, like most social media companies. The addition of Chinese ownership is both a complicator and an opportunity. It’s more complicated because the U.S. can’t directly affect ByteDance’s policies. On the other hand, as a “foreign adversary,” China’s ascendancy over private industry is a legitimate national security concern and policy can be shaped around that. This involves various more independent agencies that are free to set rules within their remits — the FCC can’t, in this case, make a case. But what about the Commerce Department? Homeland Security? The FTC? For that matter, what about states like California? Rule-making agencies have a free hand — and like tacit Congressional backing — to extend their own fiefdoms to the edges of TikTok, with national security acting as a catch-all reason. If Commerce adds “connected software applications” to supply chain security rules as it has proposed, suddenly the data coming and going through the app is arguably under its protection. (This would all be shown in various definitions and filings at the time of the rulemaking.) What if TikTok’s source code, user data, and other important resources were subject to regular audits to make sure they complied with cross-border data supply chain rules? Well, it’s a pain in the neck for ByteDance because it needs to scour its code base to make sure it isn’t giving too much away. Having to prove that it handles data the way it says it does, to the satisfaction of U.S. authorities given free reign to be picky — not pleasant at all. And that’s just from a relatively quick rule

Pinterest partners with record labels to bring popular music to its TikTok rival, ‘Idea Pins’ • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 19, 2022Posted in Apps, Music, Pinterest, record label, TikTok, VideoNo Comments

Pinterest’s TikTok competitor is gaining new music. The company announced today its video-focused “Idea Pins” feature will now include the ability to add popular tracks from top artists, thanks to new licensing deals with Warner Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, Merlin and BMG. This will expand upon the music already provided through Pinterest’s royalty-free music library from 7Digital, the company noted. With the launch, Pinterest says there will be thousands of new tracks available from artists like Dan + Shay, Bruno Mars, Michael Bublé, Twenty One Pilots, Zach Bryan, Paramore, and others. To make it easier to browse and access this larger music catalog, the Pinterest mobile app will also introduce a new music experience on iOS and Android. Here, creators will be able to search for music by artist, track name or keyword in order to find the right song to accompany their Idea Pin. To use the feature, creators will first open Idea Pins, then click on the music icon to be taken to the screen where they can search and add their desired track. They’ll then record their Idea Pin and publish it. The update could help to make Pinterest’s Idea Pins a more viable competitor to TikTok as well as other social apps that have ventured into the short-form video format, like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts — all of which already include the ability to add popular songs from major labels. Launched last year, Idea Pins are Pinterest’s own unique take on the now ubiquitous TikTok short video format, which has shown up in numerous apps including Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, Netflix, and most recently, Twitter. Instead of copying TikTok directly, as some others have done, the 60-second Idea Pins allow creators to tell their stories using a combination of video, images, music, and other editing tools — but in a way where the Pins themselves can be tapped through, which is similar to Stories. The Idea Pins feed, meanwhile, is scrolled through vertically, like TikTok. This format can be useful for the types of videos Pinterest creators would want to make as it allows them to add elements to their Pins that a video-only feature wouldn’t as easily permit — like a list of ingredients and steps for a recipe, for example, or the names of products used in a makeup tutorial. Pinterest users can like, share and comment on the Idea Pins. But they can also save them to different boards for later reference — an organizational feature TikTok today lacks. This summer, Pinterest opened up the Idea Pins format to advertisers, too, with the launch of “Idea Ads.” “Music plays a vital role in elevating storytelling and empowering storytellers, creators and Pinners who inspire the world every day on Pinterest,” said Malik Ducard, Pinterest’s Chief Content Officer, in a statement about the launch. “We are thrilled to partner with Warner Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, Merlin and BMG to bring the latest music tracks to our platform and elevate the content and inspiration created on Pinterest.”