UK minister calls TikTok desirable product but admits ‘genuine concerns’
Share:
Technology secretary Peter Kyle expresses fear of app being ‘propaganda vehicle’ but says it can deliver ‘exhilaration’ to users. TikTok’s power to deliver “exhilaration” and the UK’s relationship with China are shaping the UK government’s acceptance of the short video app despite “genuine concerns” about how the data of millions of Britons may be used, the technology secretary has said.
After the US courts upheld a law that could lead to the platform being banned or sold in the US, Peter Kyle told the Guardian: “I am genuinely concerned about the ownership model of TikTok. I’m genuinely concerned about their use of data, linked to the ownership model.”.
But, as Donald Trump announced a presidential executive order pausing the US ban for 75 days, Kyle described it as a “desirable product” and said it was important “that young people should be free to explore all sorts of cultures and ideologies”. Amid fears it could be used for Chinese propaganda, he said the UK’s position towards the app involved “getting that balance right” with “the sort of exhilaration” TikTok can deliver to users.
A recent Rutgers University study suggested “heavy users of TikTok [in the US] demonstrated a roughly 50% increase in pro-China attitudes compared [with] non-users” and there is concern that the Chinese government can access data gathered by the app. It claimed TikTok amplified irrelevant or clickbait material to crowd out “posts about alleged Chinese Communist party abuses and suppressed anti-China content using moderation algorithms”.
