Ukraine invasion: TikTok’s global ambitions take another hit as Russia’s ‘fake news’ law forces suspension
- The ByteDance-owned platform has largely followed its Western peers by banning Russian state media from using the app in the European Union
- TikTok’s position is not in line with the Chinese government, which has refused to call Russia’s military action in Ukraine an ‘invasion’
Chinese-owned app TikTok, the country’s first social media platform with global influence, has suspended live streaming and new content in Russia to comply with a law that criminalises the spreading of what the Kremlin calls “fake information”.
The suspension of new uploads by users in Russia, which has a population of 144 million, is another setback for its global expansion plans after a permanent ban by New Delhi last year.
TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, the world’s most valuable unicorn, is not available in China as it was designed for the international market.
As such, it has largely followed its Western peers by banning Russian state media from using the app in the European Union, and by adding state media labels to certain channels. The TikTok policy is in sharp contrast to its Chinese version Douyin, which is filled with information sourced from Russian state media, amplified by China’s own state media outlets.
TikTok “is acting in the interest of its employees and users to protect them from draconian laws,” said Alex Capri, a research fellow at Hinrich Foundation and business lecturer at the National University of Singapore. However, “as a Chinese company, the question will arise regarding possible pressure from Beijing to fall in line with China’s geopolitical priorities and public position regarding Russia”, he added.