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Chinese government sets the record straight of TikTok takedown allegations

The short video app TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese technology company called ByteDance, released its first “transparency report” on December 31st. The company raised a few eyebrows by claiming the ruling Communist Party of China did not demand that TikTok take down a single video on the platform.

U.S. experts have long been concerned about TikTok being used by the Chinese government as a tool to gather private data from American users. The platform has also stirred controversy over censorship by the repressive Chinese government.

“TikTok is a place for creativity and expression. We are committed to enabling our users to create and have fun in a safe and comfortable environment. We believe that when people feel safe, their creativity can flourish,” TikTok said in its report. “Just like other tech companies, occasionally we are presented with requests from various official bodies, such as government agencies or law enforcement officials, asking us to take certain actions at their behest. These include requests to take down content deemed to be in violation of local laws, or to provide information related to accounts under certain defined circumstances, such as to assist in a criminal investigation or emergency request.”

However, TikTok said the Chinese government had never censored content–a claim many critics found surprising, if not unbelievable.

“Given China’s propensity to censor content it doesn’t like, however, the news is still somewhat surprising. A report on internet freedom around the world, released by the watchdog organization Freedom House, showed China is the world’s ‘worse abuser of internet freedom’ due to its censorship and surveillance tactics,” tech blog The Verge reported.