Reuters: TikTok to clamp down on paid political posts by influencers ahead of US midterms . “TikTok will work to prevent content creators from posting paid political messages on the short-form video app, as part of its preparation for the US midterm election in November, the company said on Wednesday.”
TechCrunch: A new TikTok feature lets creators share TikTok Stories to Facebook and Instagram. “TikTok confirmed to TechCrunch it’s launching a new sharing feature that will allow users to publish their TikTok Stories — a feature it has been piloting since last year — to rival social networks, including both Facebook and Instagram.”
Washington Post: Gen Z TikTok creators are turning against Amazon. “A coalition of top TikTok stars is pledging to cease all work with Amazon — including shutting down storefronts and halting new partnerships with the e-commerce platform — until the company meets the demands of the Amazon Labor Union.”
TechCrunch: TikTok launches an in-app US midterms Elections Center, shares plan to fight misinformation. “The new feature will allow users to access state-by-state election information, including details on how to register to vote, how to vote by mail, how to find your polling place and more, provided by TikTok partner NASS (the National Association of Secretaries of State). TikTok also newly partnered with Ballotpedia to allow users to see who’s on their ballot, and is working with various voting assistance programs — including the Center for Democracy in Deaf America (for deaf voters), the Federal Voting Assistance Program (overseas voting), the Campus Vote Project (students) and Restore Your Vote (people with past convictions) — to provide content for specific groups.”
Engadget: TikTok adds an AI image generator, but it’s no DALL-E. “The Verge notes TikTok has introduced a rudimentary ‘AI greenscreen’ effect in its Android and iOS apps that turns your text descriptions into artwork. It’s much simpler than OpenAI’s DALL-E 2, producing abstract blobs rather than photorealistic depictions, but it might do the trick if you want an original background for your latest video.”
New York Times: How Frustration Over TikTok Has Mounted in Washington. “National security concerns over the Chinese-owned viral video app remain unresolved. Lawmakers and regulators are increasingly pushing for action.”
CNET: Oracle Starts Auditing TikTok’s Algorithms Amid Security Concerns. “Axios, citing an unnamed source, reported Tuesday that Oracle began the review last week and that the company will help ensure that Chinese authorities aren’t manipulating TikTok’s algorithms. TikTok’s algorithms help determine what videos the platform recommends to its more than 1 billion monthly active users. In June, TikTok announced it routed all US user traffic to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. “
BBC: Chinese internet giants hand algorithm data to government. “Chinese internet giants including Alibaba, Tiktok-owner ByteDance and Tencent have shared details of their algorithms with China’s regulators for the first time.” WOW.
New York Times: On TikTok, Election Misinformation Thrives Ahead of Midterms. “In Germany, TikTok accounts impersonated prominent political figures during the country’s last national election. In Colombia, misleading TikTok posts falsely attributed a quotation from one candidate to a cartoon villain and allowed a woman to masquerade as another candidate’s daughter. In the Philippines, TikTok videos amplified sugarcoated myths about the country’s former dictator and helped his son prevail in the country’s presidential race. Now, similar problems have arrived in the United States.”
BBC: Tiktok: Suspected gangs tout English Channel migrant crossings on platform. “Suspected people smugglers are using TikTok to advertise illegal entry into the UK via the English Channel. The BBC has found a number of people claiming they can guarantee safe passage and calm waters for £5,000. The Home Office said posts which ‘promote lethal crossings’ were unacceptable, but there are calls for more to be done to stop people-smuggling being advertised online.”
The Verge: TikTok moderators say they were shown child sexual abuse videos during training. “Employees of a third-party moderation outfit called Teleperformance, which works with TikTok among other companies, claim it asked them to review a disturbing spreadsheet dubbed DRR or Daily Required Reading on TikTok moderation standards. The spreadsheet allegedly contained content that violated TikTok’s guidelines, including ‘hundreds of images’ of children who were nude or being abused.”
News@Northeastern: How TikTok Made Reading Fun Again. “Thanks to TikTok users posting reviews of their favorite books with the hashtag #BookTok, a crop of books has skyrocketed in popularity, and some Gen Zers are discovering that reading can be fun.”
Independent: Parliament shuts TikTok account after MPs’ fears over firm’s links to China. “Parliament has shut its TikTok account after MPs raised concerns about the social media firm’s Chinese links. A number of MPs hit by Chinese sanctions for speaking out against ‘gross human rights violations’ had protested against the recent creation of the social media account.”
CNN: TikTok’s ties to China are once again under fire in Washington. Here’s why. “Two years after then-President Donald Trump said he would ban TikTok in the United States through an executive order, the short-form video platform is once again under scrutiny in Washington. And the underlying issue remains largely the same: TikTok’s ties to China through its parent company, Bytedance.”
New York Times: A Stranger Filmed Her on the Train. TikTok Users Decided She Had Monkeypox.. “Lilly Simon, a 33-year-old in Brooklyn, does not have monkeypox. She does have neurofibromatosis type 1, a genetic condition that causes tumors to grow at her nerve endings. Those tumors were filmed surreptitiously by a TikTok user while Ms. Simon was riding the subway on a Thursday in late July during her commute.”
