Fact: TikTok's parent company
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese internet technology company owning several content platforms worldwide (Douyin, Toutiao, Xigua Video, Helo, Lark, Babe). Bytedance passed the $300 billion private market valuation by 2022, making around $58 billion in revenue in 2022, over $4 billion from TikTok.
TikTok, which has over 150 million American users, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd., which appoints its executives.
TikTok has not provided such data to the Chinese government or CCP, nor would TikTok do so.”
Chew told lawmakers that ByteDance, although a Chinese entity, “is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government.” ByteDance is a private company with global institutional investors owning 60 percent of its shares, 20 percent owned by the company founder and another 20 percent owned by employees, he said.
Revenue at TikTok Owner ByteDance Rose More Than 30% in 2022, Topped $80 Billion. ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, generated more than $80 billion in annual revenue last year, up more than 30% from roughly $60 billion in 2021, according to two people with knowledge of the figure.
Major shareholders in ByteDance include global investors such as Coatue Management, General Atlantic, Susquehanna International Group and Sequoia Capital China. Collectively they have put more than $8 billion into the company.
The app can invade your privacy because it is able to see everything and everyone users interact with. TikTok also collects information regarding a user's name, age, email, phone number, networks they use, contacts they have and more.
For a long time, TikTok insisted any data collected by their servers could not be accessed by anyone in China. In November 2022, the company changed its privacy policy. It now said staff in China could access data.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew previously told US lawmakers that the company has never been asked by the Chinese government for data on its US users, and would never comply with such a request.
TikTok is owned by the Chinese technology company Bytedance but it insists it is run independently and does not share data with the Chinese government. It is currently carrying out a project to store US user data in Texas, which it says will put it out of China's reach.
TikTok, whose mainland Chinese counterpart is Douyin (Chinese: 抖音; pinyin: Dǒuyīn), is a short-form video hosting service owned by ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 3 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok Pte. Ltd.
Privacy and data protection are among the most significant legal issues that businesses face when using TikTok, and the platform is under continued scrutiny for its data collection practices. In 2020, TikTok was fined $5.7 million by the US Federal Trade Commission for violating children's privacy laws.
Zhang Yiming, the billionaire founder of TikTok's parent ByteDance, has set up a private investment fund in Hong Kong, as he continues to stay out of the spotlight since relinquishing his corporate roles two years ago.
TikTok makes money from advertising, shop commissions, fees from subscriptions, and music royalties. The business model of TikTok is centered around becoming a super app on which users can not only consume videos, but shop for items, play games, and so much more.
TikTok is a popular social media app that allows users to create, watch, and share 15-second videos shot on mobile devices or webcams. With its personalized feeds of quirky short videos set to music and sound effects, the app is notable for its addictive quality and high levels of engagement.
It's not any more invasive than any other social-media app. Facebook, Instagram and TikTok all require you to give up much of your personal information by signing that EULA. The difference is that Facebook and Instagram are based in the United States, and TikTok is owned by ByteDance, which is based in China.
Zhang Yiming is the main founder of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, best known for its insanely popular app TikTok, which has more than 1 billion users worldwide.
TikTok is a national security threat. The Chinese-owned social media platform's parent company ByteDance is based in Beijing and is required by Chinese law to give the government access to collected data.
So you might have seen videos popping up on your TikTok feed from users claiming they are deleting the app on 3rd March 2023. It's all to do with a trend called corecore and how people feel as though they're wasting their life endlessly scrolling on the app.
Why does the US want to ban TikTok? The United States wants to ban the application for several reasons. The main reason is national security. U.S. lawmakers are concerned that ByteDance may leak U.S. user data to the Chinese government if the Chinese government forced them to.
TikTok, known as Douyin in its home market, was launched in China in September 2016. It quickly started to gain traction in China and parent company ByteDance launched an international version the following year.
The social network makes it clear that the author of the video is the owner and copyright holder of each content published on it, although TikTok can use them for commercial purposes.
Founder of TikTok owner ByteDance Zhang Yiming makes fresh donation while keeping a low profile.