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Published: July 9, 2020 10:49:21 pm
ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok is not obtainable to obtain for both iPhones or Android gadgets in Hong Kong, exiting the market simply days after the passage of a brand new nationwide safety law by Beijing.
The law grants sweeping powers for authorities to police on-line content material and has drawn opposition from web giants like Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google and Twitter Inc. TikTok, which has been the topic of intensifying scrutiny from the US over its relationship with the Chinese authorities, mentioned on Tuesday that it will withdraw the app from Hong Kong within the coming days.
The brief video service, a world sensation from the US to India, has a China-only twin referred to as Douyin. It just isn’t but clear whether or not ByteDance will provide Douyin as a substitute in Hong Kong, a metropolis of seven.four million individuals the place TikTok had 1.eight million downloads as of September, in keeping with Sensor Tower.
TikTok has confronted persistent allegations that its selections on content material align with Beijing’s priorities. It has focused movies associated to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, the mistreatment of Muslims in China’s Xinjiang area and standoffs on the India-China border. It was amongst 59 apps that India banned after an intensification of that border dispute not too long ago.
Last 12 months, a ByteDance spokesman advised Bloomberg News that TikTok didn’t take away movies from the Hong Kong protests for political causes, saying they could have as a substitute been taken down for violating pointers round violent, graphic, surprising or sensational content material.
ByteDance introduced in May that Kevin Mayer, the architect of Walt Disney Co’s direct-to-consumer video technique, would turn into chief govt officer of TikTok, a step that would enhance the service’s picture overseas. Mayer, who now runs TikTok globally, could assist easy relations with US lawmakers and curiosity teams, whereas attracting expertise and new content material to hurry TikTok’s worldwide growth.
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