The Wall Street Journal has reported that doctors experienced a surge in reported cases of tics, tied to an increasing number of TikTok videos from content creators with Tourette syndrome. Since 2021, it has been reported that accounts engaging with contents related to suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders were shown more similar videos. TikTok has previously worked to remove graphic content from its platform, including a suicide video that circulated in September 2020, which had appeared among the recommended clips of TikTok’s For You section.
The developer indicated that this app supports the following accessibility features. The developer, TikTok Ltd., indicated that this app supports the following accessibility features to help make common tasks in the app faster ruhtinas and easier to complete. Enjoy a better video browsing experience on our enhanced feed. ■ Be entertained and inspired by a global community of creatorsMillions of creators are on TikTok showcasing their incredible skills and everyday life. ■ Pause recording multiple times in one videoPause and resume your video with just a tap. TikTok had earlier drawn criticism for hosting content by organized crime groups promoting the gang lifestyle and fights.

Australian Information Commissioner inquiry

In 2025, a Canadian investigation found that TikTok had collected sensitive personal data from children in violation of federal privacy laws. In March 2025, the ICO opened another investigation into TikTok concerning its use of children’s personal information to recommend content to them. In April 2023, the ICO imposed a £12.7 million fine on TikTok for misusing children’s data.

Project Texas

The differences between Douyin and TikTok have led some US politicians and commentators to accuse the company or the Chinese government of malicious intent. Out of TikTok’s top 100 male creators, a 2022 analysis reported 67% were white, with 54% having near-perfect facial symmetry. The average user, daily, was spending 1 hour and 25 minutes on the app and opening TikTok 17 times.
The app has spawned numerous viral trends, Internet celebrities, and music trends around the world. On 19 July 2023, TikTok Music was expanded for select users in Australia, Mexico and Singapore. However, a few days later, users on Twitter discovered that the software uses code from the open-source OBS Studio. Accounts of users that are of age, have at least 100,000 followers and agree to the terms can activate a “Tip” button on their profile, which allows followers to tip any amount, starting from $1. The app expanded its parental controls feature called “Family Pairing” in September 2020 to provide parents and guardians with educational resources to understand what children on TikTok are exposed to. TikTok announced a “family safety mode” in February 2020 for parents to be able to control their children’s presence on the app.
Charli D’Amelio remained the most-followed individual on the platform until she was surpassed by Khaby Lame on 23 June 2022. It is reported that TikTok Music features songs from major record companies like Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group. If an eligible creator’s video reaches the top 4%, they will receive a 50% share of the revenue from ads displayed with the video. If over 18, the user’s followers can send virtual “gifts” that can be later exchanged for money.

• Content promoting cosmetic surgery is popular on TikTok and has spawned several viral trends on the platform.
• Comment sections of “sexy” videos, such as young girls dancing in revealing clothes, were found to contain requests for nude pictures.
• The US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia reportedly subpoenaed information from ByteDance regarding its surveillance of journalists on TikTok.
• In April 2025, the Ireland DPC fined TikTok over €500 million for illegally sending European user data to China.
• TikTok uses popular influencers to encourage viewers to stop using the app and take a break.
• On 30 December 2022, President Joe Biden signed the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, prohibiting the use of the app on devices owned by the federal government, with some exceptions.
• TikTok tends to appeal to younger users, as 41% of its users are between the ages of 16 and 24.

Data Linked to You

In July 2023, Iranian Mehr News Agency reported “experts from Douyin” will meet Iranian business in Tehran to enable Iranian exports to China. It was also the most-downloaded app on Apple’s App Store in 2018 and 2019, surpassing Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. TikTok was downloaded over 104 million times on Apple’s App Store during the first half of 2018, according to data provided to CNBC by Sensor Tower.
Competition from TikTok prompted Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, to spend $120 million as of 2022 to entice more content creators to its Reels service, although engagement level remained low. Although the size of its user base falls short of that of Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, TikTok reached 1 billion active monthly users faster than any of them. In 2019, media outlets cited TikTok as the 7th-most-downloaded mobile app of the decade, from 2010 to 2019. After merging with musical.ly in August, downloads increased and TikTok became the most downloaded app in the US in October 2018, which musical.ly had done once before. On September 14, 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported the US and China have reached the “framework of a deal” for the US operations of TikTok to be sold to a consortium of investors in the US including close Trump ally Larry Ellison of Oracle. While Beijing preferred TikTok remain under ByteDance’s control, the sale could happen through a competitive process or with US government involvement.

Douyin

• The company posted job listings for staff for a series of order fulfillment centers in the US and is reportedly planning to start the new live shopping business before the end of the year.
• A data scientist said US user data were emailed to ByteDance workers in China to identify viewer interests.
• TikTok said only a few individuals can approve heating in the US and the promoted videos take up less than 0.002% of user feeds.
• A 2025 meta-analysis found that use of TikTok was correlated with symptoms of anxiety and depression, with stronger links in females and users under 24 years old.
• Paxton claimed that the Texas Department of Public Safety gathered several pieces of content showing the attempted recruitment of teenagers to smuggle people or goods across the Mexico–United States border.
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TikTok said only a few individuals can approve heating in the US and the promoted videos take up less than 0.002% of user feeds. NBC reported that videos using the hashtags ‘#plasticsurgery’ and ‘#lipfiller’ had amassed a combined 26 billion views on the platform. TikTok content creators used a specific audio on their videos while showing how their noses looked before and after having their rhinoplasty surgeries. In the article, it was noted that plastic surgeons were some of the earliest adopters of social media in the medical field and many had been recognized as influencers on the platform.

Jim Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said TikTok would have no right to appeal requests for data made by the Chinese government. TikTok is also able to track information about web users even if they are not users of the TikTok app. Other information collected includes users inferred interests based on the content they view as well as content created by users.

She noted that the company was potentially violating the GDPR which requires the company to provide different services and different protections for children. In July 2025, the DPC opened a new investigation into TikTok for unauthorized transfers of user data to China. In April 2025, the Ireland DPC fined TikTok over €500 million for illegally sending European user data to China. In September 2023, the DPC fined TikTok €345 million for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) vis-à-vis the mishandling of children data.
The deal was completed by January 22, 2026, with investors including Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX, and others including the personal investment entity for Michael Dell will own more than 80% of the new venture, while ByteDance retained 19.9% ownership. The day before the impending ban, California-based conversational search engine company Perplexity AI submitted a bid for a merger with TikTok US. In January 2025, Chinese officials began preliminary talks about potentially selling TikTok’s US operations to Elon Musk if the app faced an impending ban due to national security concerns. In March 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that TikTok’s growth in the US had stagnated.