The number of legal requests from governments for TikTok user data increased from the previous half of the year, with India and the U.S. leading those requests, according to TikTok’s new transparency report.
The transparency report published on Thursday looks at the second half of 2019 (July-December). During that time, governments around the world made 500 legal demands — the U.S. making up 100 of those requests — either from law enforcement or government entities about user info and content. India led all other countries with a total of 302 requests.
None of the 500 demands came from Hong Kong or China. That may be because TikTok operates a different app, Douyin, in the Chinese market. A TikTok spokesperson referred Digital Trends to Douyin for comment about how often China and Hong Kong’s government requested user data.
A Douyin spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to Digital Trends. We will update this story when we hear back.
Overall, TikTok removed more than 49 million videos for violating the app’s community guidelines. Over 16 million videos were removed in India, followed by more than 4 million videos in the U.S.
TikTok’s number of government requests for user removal totaled 45, the U.S. only having one government request that resulted in an account being removed or restricted.
The report comes just days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the U.S. is “looking at” banning Chinese social media apps such as TikTok. In an interview with Fox News, Pompeo warned people they should only download the app if they want their “private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”
It’s not the first time the U.S. government has scrutinized TikTok. In February last year, TikTok was fined $5.7 million for violating COPPA, a children’s privacy law. Then, in November, the U.S. government launched a national security investigation into the app, particularly looking at the company’s acquisition of the app, Musical.ly.
India, TikTok’s second-largest market, was the first to officially ban the app last month, citing data privacy concerns with other various China-based apps. TikTok is also not operating in Hong Kong anymore, due to a controversial new security law that threatens free speech.
Instagram is testing a new format for long-form videos called Features. It allows select creators to upload horizontal videos running up to 90 minutes long. Instagram has already tested the new format with creators in Brazil, and now, it's expanding to tens of thousands of creators across the US.
How will Instagram's new Features format work?
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
I have lost count of how many times I have gone to bed thinking I will finally sleep on time, only to somehow end up scrolling Instagram or X again. A few minutes turn into an hour, then another, and before I notice, it is 2 or 3 a.m. The next morning, I am usually annoyed with myself because I could have just slept and felt considerably better for the day ahead.
It is also a surprisingly hard habit to beat. Knowing you should put the phone down does not always help once it is already in your hand. Brick Night is a new gadget built around that exact problem. Instead of relying on you to remember to turn on an app blocker, it automatically restricts selected apps and websites when your phone enters your chosen sleep space during the hours you set.