Short video hit TikTok pledges millions in relief funds to help communities battle Covid-19
- Funds will be used to help medical and non-profit workers and local organisations serving communities, as well as creative professionals
Short video app TikTok, owned by Beijing-based Bytedance, has pledged around US$375 million in total to support front-line medical workers, educators, and local communities affected by the global Covid-19 crisis, coming hot on the heels of support from other Chinese tech giants.
About US$250 million of this will be used to help medical and non-profit workers, and local organisations serving communities, creative professionals and the wellness industry. Other commitments include US$25 million in ads to help trusted organisations deliver crucial public health information via its short video platform and US$100 million in ad credits as businesses look to rebuild.
“This may be a serious time, but on TikTok it can still be joyful – and deeply inspiring,” said Alex Zhu, president of TikTok, in a blog post, “We are committed to playing our part in that global outpouring of mutual support and giving. We want to magnify all we are seeing across our community and translate it into concrete relief for those most affected by this crisis.”
Last month the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation said that they were sharing clinical experience from frontline medical workers with global medical institutions in the form of a digital handbook. On March, Google also announced around US$800 million in fresh funds to combat the global pandemic.
TikTok is also playing a role to educate people on the health crisis. On March 17, the World Health Organisation live-streamed on TikTok to share up-to-date information about the deadly coronavirus. The short video hit also launched a “#HappyAtHome: LIVE!” campaign last month, a week of nightly live-streaming to help “bring some genuine comfort and connection [to people]” who may feel isolated.
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance first donated 200 million yuan (US$28.4 million) to the China Red Cross Foundation in January when Wuhan in China was the epicentre of the pandemic. It also founded a special fund to support frontline medical workers. As of March 17, the fund had raised more than 400 million yuan.
Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.