TikTok under political pressure, urged to diversify growth in weaker markets

Chinese internet company ByteDance has urged TikTok app to diversify its growth in weaker markets, Reuters reports citing an internal note. ByteDance is among the world's most valuable startups. ByteDance owns TikTok, which is a short-video app that excels at lip-syncing to songs and dialogues.

We can safely assume that ByteDance is looking to focus on adding more TikTok users in countries outside of its most active markets. This comes amid TikTok facing intense political pressure in the United States.

Here's what happened

ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming issued an internal note urging TikTok to diversify its growth after lawmakers in the United States recently voiced concerns about the collection of user data and whether China censors content seen by the United States users.

"Continue to diversify TikTok’s growth," said the note, which was written in both English and Mandarin Chinese. "Increase investment in weaker markets," Zhang added.

TikTok is immensely popular with teenagers and young adults Zhang, however, did not mention anything about mounting pressure in the U.S. but urged TikTok to enhance its capabilities in "handling global public affairs" and strengthening user data protection.

Recently, the U.S. government launched a national-security review of TikTok. Several senators have noted concerns about censorship and data collection on TikTok. ByteDance has clarified the Chinese government does not have any jurisdiction over TikTok content.

READ | TikTok now has 150 crores users worldwide and special credit goes to India

TikTok reaches 150 crores users 

Launched just two years ago, TikTok has crossed more than 150 crores downloads on Google Play and App Store, as per data by a research firm Sensor Tower.

India has been an essential market for ByteDance. It will be fair to say that India has indeed been a driving force behind TikTok and ByteDance's global success.

In the past, TikTok has faced regulatory challenges in India, which temporarily banned TikTok in April this year, primarily due to content violating its community guidelines.

ByteDance is all set to launch a subscription-based music streaming service next month. The company is reportedly in talks with several music giants like Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music over global licensing deals.

READ | TikTok parent ByteDance to launch music streaming service in India next month

(With inputs from Reuters)