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In January 2019, TikTok allowed creators to embed merchandise sale links into their videos. TikTok has been downloaded more than 130 million times in the United States and has reached 2 billion downloads worldwide, according to data from mobile research firm Sensor Tower (those numbers exclude Android users in China). TikTok merged with Musical.ly on 2 August 2018 with existing accounts and data consolidated into one app, keeping the title TikTok.

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On 23 January 2018, the TikTok app ranked first among free application downloads on app stores in Thailand and other countries. Employees have reported that multiple overlaps exist between TikTok and ByteDance in terms of personnel management and product development. Its parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, is owned by founders and Chinese investors, other global investors, and employees. Many other countries limit TikTok’s use on government-issued devices for security or privacy reasons.

Many platforms and services, including YouTube Shorts, began to imitate TikTok’s format and recommendation page. Competition from TikTok prompted Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, to spend $120 million as of 2022 to entice more content creators to its Reels service, although engagement level remained low. Although the size of its user base falls short of that of Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, TikTok reached 1 billion active monthly users faster than any of them. In 2019, media outlets cited TikTok as the 7th-most-downloaded mobile app of the decade, from 2010 to 2019. After merging with musical.ly in August, downloads increased and TikTok became the most downloaded app in the U.S. in October 2018, which musical.ly had done once before. On September 14, 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported the US and China have reached the “framework of a deal” for the US operations of TikTok to be sold to a consortium of investors in the US including Larry Ellison of Oracle.

In March 2022, The Washington Post reported that Facebook’s owner Meta Platforms paid Targeted Victory—a consulting firm backed by supporters of the U.S. In March 2024, The Information reported that it is an open secret among investors that TikTok loses billions of dollars annually. According to sources for The Wall Street Journal, the personnel move led to concerns from some TikTok employees and was reported to the office of U.S. In July 2023, Iranian Mehr News Agency reported “experts from Douyin” will meet Iranian business in Tehran to enable Iranian exports to China. It was also the most-downloaded app on Apple’s App Store in 2018 and 2019, surpassing Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. TikTok was downloaded over 104 million times on Apple’s App Store during the first half of 2018, according to data provided to CNBC by Sensor Tower.

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The average user, daily, was spending 1 hour and 25 minutes on the app and opening TikTok 17 times. As of the first quarter of 2022, there were over 100 million monthly active users in the United States and 23 million in the UK. TikTok’s unique platform organization, of spontaneous peer-peer information sharing, has enabled its utilization for community-engaged, digital knowledge mobilization and exchange between social justice communities. In September 2024, TikTok removed the accounts of Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik. TikTok’s own investigation found more than 12,000 fake accounts, including ones using additional languages such as English and Italian.

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ENTERTAINBe entertained and inspired by a global community of creators.Take video creation to the next level with special effects, filters, music, and more. New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster praised the platform for taking a “socially-responsible stance” against gangs. A TikTok spokesperson reiterated the platform’s efforts to countering “violent” and “hateful” organizations’ content and cooperating with police. They have also labeled a potential ban on the app an assault on freedom of speech, including Republican congressmen Rand Paul and Thomas Massie.

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TikTok content creators used a specific audio on their videos while showing how their noses looked before and after having their rhinoplasty surgeries. In the article, it was noted that plastic surgeons were some of the earliest adopters of social media in the medical field and many had been recognized as influencers on the platform. The widespread popularity of these trends has influenced various aspects of society, including interest in cooking among younger generations, discussions about body image, the marketing of food products on social media, and temporary food shortages. Some TikTok users share personal recipes and dietary habits, while others use step-by-step cooking videos to grow their online presence. TikTok food trends refer to popular recipes and food-related fads on the social media platform TikTok. Duets, a feature that allows users to add their own video to an existing video with the original content’s audio, have sparked many of these trends.

Although they were removed by TikTok after the report, mixing audio remains an effective way to evade content moderation on many platforms. In September 2024, Sky News reported that clips of Adolf Hitler’s speeches with added music were attracting high levels of engagement on TikTok. In Malaysia, TikTok is used by some users to engage in hate speech against race and religion especially mentioning the 13 May incident after the 2022 election.

• After increased scrutiny, TikTok said it is granting some outside experts access to the platform’s anonymized data sets and protocols, including filters, keywords, criteria for heating, and source code.
• In March 2025, the ICO opened another investigation into TikTok concerning its use of children’s personal information to recommend content to them.
• TikTok’s geographical use in 2019 has shown that 43% of new users were from India before the social platform was banned in the country.
• In September 2024, Sky News reported that clips of Adolf Hitler’s speeches with added music were attracting high levels of engagement on TikTok.
• In response to the allegations, the company noted that they were committed to allowing employees “support and flexibility”.

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An analysis estimated that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, could gain between $2.46 billion and $3.38 billion in advertising revenue if TikTok were banned. In response to the exposé, Kenya’s Communications Authority (CA) launched a formal inquiry, directing TikTok to remove all sexual content involving minors and submit a detailed plan to strengthen its moderation and child protection systems. Reporting in The Washington Post suggested that the virality of the letter had been limited prior to media coverage, having never trended on TikTok. TikTok was also accused by Malaysia’s minister of communications, Fahmi Fadzil of suppressing pro-Palestinian content.

TikTok is also able to track information about web users even if they are not users of the TikTok app. Other information collected includes users inferred interests based on the content they view as well as content created by users. TikTok’s privacy policy lists that the app collects usage information, IP vegas casino app addresses, a user’s mobile carrier, unique device identifiers, keystroke patterns, and location data, among other data.

In December 2023, BBC News reported that it had discovered nearly 800 fake TikTok accounts promoting Russian propaganda and disinformation. Tracking Exposed, a user data rights group, learned of what was likely a technical glitch that became exploited by pro-Russia posters. The users had shared on TikTok an article published by celebscritic.com alleging that K. TikTok partnered with the National Association of Secretaries of State to give accurate local information to users. TikTok removed some of these videos and has generally added links to accurate COVID-19 information on videos with tags related to the pandemic.

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It also announced that U.S. user traffic would now be routed through Oracle Cloud and that backup copies would be deleted from other servers. Following the reports, TikTok confirmed that employees in China could have access to U.S. data. As a consequence, the Senate Intelligence Committee including U.S. lawmakers Mark Warner and Marco Rubio called for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate ByteDance and whether TikTok had misled them.

In March 2023, TikTok introduced a dedicated feed for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content. Creators who posted saying that they would not be changing their content, such as Green, were met with significant criticism. These creators would often attend red carpet premieres of movies and interview the celebrities in attendance, which was the subject of significant debate as some considered the questions the creators asked to be disrespectful.

Charli D’Amelio remained the most-followed individual on the platform until she was surpassed by Khaby Lame on 23 June 2022. Many stars got their start on musical.ly, which merged with TikTok on 2 August 2018. It is reported that TikTok Music features songs from major record companies like Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group. If an eligible creator’s video reaches the top 4%, they will receive a 50% share of the revenue from ads displayed with the video. If over 18, the user’s followers can send virtual “gifts” that can be later exchanged for money. The Wall Street Journal reported that Silicon Valley executives met with U.S. lawmakers to build an “anti-China alliance” before TikTok CEO’s congressional hearing in March 2023.

With reports that Palestinians resorted to TikTok for promoting their cause after platforms like Facebook and Twitter blocked their content, Israeli analyst Yoni Ben-Menachem called the app a “tool of dangerous influence” inciting violence against Israelis. In December 2022, with the United States experiencing a shortage as well, it was reported that the huge increase in demand for the medicine was caused by a weight loss trend on TikTok, where videos about the drug exceeded 360 million views. Civil society groups warn that these apps push users down “rabbit holes” and then surround them in an “information cocoon”.

As of February 2023, at least 32 (of 50) states have announced or enacted bans on state government agencies, employees, and contractors using TikTok on government-issued devices. 7521, which would ban TikTok entirely unless it was divested from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. President Joe Biden signed an executive order revoking the Trump administration ban on TikTok, and instead ordered the Secretary of Commerce to investigate the app to determine if it poses a threat to U.S. national security. In January 2020, the United States Army and Navy banned TikTok on government devices after the Defense Department labeled it a security risk.

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• In 2019, media outlets cited TikTok as the 7th-most-downloaded mobile app of the decade, from 2010 to 2019.
• In July 2025, the DPC opened a new investigation into TikTok for unauthorized transfers of user data to China.
• As of February 2023, at least 32 (of 50) states have announced or enacted bans on state government agencies, employees, and contractors using TikTok on government-issued devices.
• He claimed the evidence may prove the company’s involvement in “human smuggling, sex trafficking and drug trafficking”.

By July 2023, TikTok has become the primary news source for British teenagers on social media, with 28% of 12 to 15-year-olds relying on the platform, while traditional sources like BBC One/Two are more trusted at 82%, according to a report by UK regulator Ofcom. TikTok’s geographical use in 2019 has shown that 43% of new users were from India before the social platform was banned in the country. The momentum of digital feminist movements through platforms like TikTok have additionally encouraged many social media agents and marketing campaigns around the world to adopt some degree of feminism as a part of their online image or personal brand. In July 2025, Media Matters reported that Google’s Veo 3 text-to-video model for AI-generated content is being used to generate large numbers of dehumanizing and violent videos with racist and antisemitic tropes which are being shared on TikTok. In October 2019, TikTok removed about two dozen accounts that were responsible for posting ISIL propaganda and execution videos on the app.

TikTok said it does not give information to China’s government and “U.S. user data” is stored within the country with backups in Singapore. Lawmakers also “hammered” TikTok about whether consumer data could be turned over to the Chinese government through ByteDance, its parent company in China. Jim Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said TikTok would have no right to appeal requests for data made by the Chinese government.

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This led many creators to stop creating new content which they were not already contractually obligated to create. Some TikTok users criticized the trend for promoting an unobtainable beauty standard. In December 2022, it was reported that a cosmetic surgery procedure known as buccal fat removal was going viral on the platform. TikTok has banned the advertising of cosmetic surgeries on the platform but cosmetic surgeons are still able to reach large audiences using unpaid photo and video posts.

In April 2022, NBC News reported that surgeons were giving influencers on the platform discounted or free cosmetic surgeries in order to advertise the procedures to their audiences. By January 2021, the hashtag #nosejob had accumulated 1.6 billion views, #nosejobcheck had accumulated 1 billion views, and the audio used in the #NoseJobCheck trend had been used in 120,000 videos. Realistic videos about how differently pieces of garment fit on a model compared to how they fit on a typical consumer resonated with many who had believed that they were alone in their struggle. Several TikTok content creators, such as Eitan Bernath and Emily Mariko have gained recognition through their recipes and content. Another TikTok trend known as the Kia Challenge involves users stealing certain models of Kia and Hyundai cars manufactured without immobilizers, which was a standard feature at the time, between 2010 and 2021. Since Mertzlufft’s video, many new elements including costume design, additional songs, and a playbill have been created.

In September 2023, the DPC fined TikTok €345 million for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) vis-à-vis the mishandling of children data. In January 2020, Check Point Research discovered a vulnerability through which a hacker could spoof TikTok’s official SMS messages and replace them with malicious links to gain access to user accounts. TikTok has faced criticism for transferring European user data to servers in the United States. A data scientist said U.S. user data were emailed to ByteDance workers in China to identify viewer interests. It would also digitally sign software code, approve updates, and oversee content moderation and recommendation. A 2024 unclassified threat assessment by the Director of National Intelligence said “TikTok accounts run by a Chinese propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates” during the 2022 United States elections.

These hashtags have amassed 4.6 million and 4.5 million posts, respectively, according to the platform. Food-related content on TikTok is often categorized under the hashtags #TikTokFood and #FoodTok. In 2023, a trend emerged where streamers acted as if they were video-game characters following prompts from their viewers. TikTok has taken measures to remove and prevent access to content displaying the trend. The song rose to popularity when musician Daniel Mertzlufft composed a backing track to the song. In 2020, Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” was used in a skating video and a recreation by Mick Fleetwood.