TikTok nears moving all its China-based content moderation outside the country amid US pressure
- ByteDance is currently embroiled in a US national security inquiry into TikTok's handling of user data
The viral short video app TikTok, under scrutiny in the US over privacy and censorship concerns in recent months, said it would complete the transfer of the app's content moderation to locations outside China “within a few weeks”.
The work done by a team under the Trust & Safety department “primarily helping with overnight coverage for some non-US regions” will be transferred to “local teams in the markets they cover within a few weeks,” a TikTok spokeswoman said in an emailed response on Monday.
The app's owner ByteDance is now “working to find job options within the company for the China-based employees,” she said. The restructure will affect more than 100 employees in China, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier, citing people familiar with the matter.
TikTok, the overseas version of China’s Douyin, was the world's most downloaded non-game app over the past two months, according to Sensor Tower. It has however drawn attention from regulators in different markets. ByteDance is currently embroiled in a US national security inquiry into TikTok's handling of user data.
TikTok to open Transparency Center in US to allay content concerns
It will be a critical year for ByteDance, the world's most valuable start-up with a valuation of around US$78 billion, to consolidate its international expansion amid US-China tensions.
Around the same time, another Beijing-based information technology firm said it would comply with an order from US President Donald Trump to divest from a Delaware venture. The order was also made on US national security concerns.
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