How TikTok grew from a fun app for teens into a potential national security threat

SAN FRANCISCO -- If it feels similar TikTok has been astir forever, that's astir apt due to the fact that it has, astatine slightest if you're measuring via net time. What's present successful question is whether it volition beryllium astir overmuch longer and, if so, successful what form?

Starting successful 2017, erstwhile the Chinese societal video app merged with its rival Musical.ly, TikTok has grown from a niche teen app into a planetary trendsetter. While, of course, besides emerging arsenic a imaginable nationalist information threat, according to U.S. officials.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed authorities requiring TikTok genitor ByteDance to merchantability to a U.S. proprietor wrong a twelvemonth oregon to unopen down. It's not wide whether that instrumentality volition past an expected ineligible situation oregon that ByteDance would hold to sell.

Here's however TikTok came to this juncture:

ByteDance is founded successful China by entrepreneur Zhang Yimin. Its archetypal deed merchandise is Toutiao, a personalized quality aggregator for Chinese users.

Startup Musical.ly, aboriginal known for an eponymous app utilized to station abbreviated lipsyncing euphony videos, is founded successful China by entrepreneur Alex Zhu.

Musical.ly hits #1 successful the Apple App Store, pursuing a plan alteration that made the company's logo disposable erstwhile users shared their videos.

ByteDance launches Douyin, a video sharing app for Chinese users. Its popularity inspires the institution to rotation disconnected a mentation for overseas audiences called TikTok.

ByteDance acquires Musical.ly for $1 billion. Nine months later, ByteDance merges it with TikTok.

Powered by an algorithm that encourages binge-watching, users statesman to stock a wide assortment of video connected the app, including creation moves, room nutrient mentation and assorted “challenges” to perform, grounds and station acts that scope from superior to satirical.

Rapper Lil Nas X releases the country-trap opus “Old Town Road” connected TikTok, wherever it goes viral and pushes the opus to a grounds 17 weeks successful the #1 spot connected the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The improvement kicks disconnected a question of TikTok videos from philharmonic artists who abruptly spot TikTok arsenic a captious mode to scope fans.

TikTok settles national charges of violating U.S. child-privacy laws and agrees to wage a $5.7 cardinal fine.

The Washington Post reports that portion images of Hong Kong ideology protests and constabulary crackdowns are communal connected astir societal media sites, they are strangely absent connected TikTok. The aforesaid communicative notes that TikTok posts with the #trump2020 tag received much than 70 cardinal views.

The institution insists that TikTok contented moderation, conducted successful the U.S., is not liable and says the app is simply a spot for entertainment, not politics.

The Guardian reports connected interior documents that reportedly item however TikTok instructs its moderators to delete oregon bounds the scope of videos touching connected topics delicate to China specified arsenic the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and consequent massacre, Tibetan independency oregon the sanctioned spiritual radical Falun Gong.

U.S. politicians statesman to rise alarms astir TikTok's influence, calling for a national investigations of its Musical.ly acquisition and a nationalist information probe into TikTok and different Chinese-owned apps. That probe begins successful November, according to quality reports.

The Pentagon recommends that each U.S. subject unit delete TikTok from each phones, idiosyncratic and government-issued. Some services prohibition the app connected subject owned phones. In January, the Pentagon bans the app from each subject phones.

TikTok becomes the second-most downloaded app successful the world, according to information from analytics steadfast SensorTower.

Privacy groups record a ailment alleging TikTok is inactive violating U.S. child-protection laws and flouting a 2019 colony agreement. The institution “takes the contented of safely seriously” and continues to amended safeguards, it says.

TikTok hires erstwhile Disney enforcement Kevin Mayer arsenic its main enforcement serviceman successful an evident effort to amended its U.S. relations. Mayer resigns 3 months later.

India bans TikTok and dozens of different Chinese apps successful effect to a borderline clash with China.

President Donald Trump says helium is considering banning TikTok arsenic retaliation for China's alleged mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump issues a sweeping but vague enforcement bid banning American companies from immoderate “transaction” with ByteDance and its subsidiaries, including TikTok. Several days later, helium issues a 2nd bid demanding that ByteDance divest itself of TikTok's U.S. operations wrong 90 days.

Microsoft confirms it is exploring acquisition of TikTok. The woody ne'er materializes; neither does a akin overture from Oracle and Walmart. TikTok, meanwhile, sues the Trump medication for alleged usurpation of owed process successful its enforcement orders.

Joe Biden is elected president. He doesn't connection caller argumentation connected TikTok and won't instrumentality bureau until January, but Trump's plans to unit a merchantability of TikTok commencement to unravel anyway. The Trump medication extends the deadlines it had imposed connected ByteDance and TikTok and yet lets them descent altogether.

Newly sworn-in President Joe Biden postpones the ineligible cases involving Trump's program to prohibition TikTok, efficaciously bringing them to a halt.

TikTok announces it has much than a cardinal monthly progressive users.

A Wall Street Journal study finds TikTok algorithms tin flood teens with a torrent of harmful worldly specified arsenic videos recommending utmost dieting, a signifier of eating disorder.

TikTok announces caller rules to deter the dispersed of harmful worldly specified arsenic viral hoaxes and promotion of eating disorders.

“The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,” a task created by 2 fans of the Netflix amusement arsenic a TikTok project, wins the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.

TikTok becomes the astir downloaded app successful the world, beating retired Instagram, according to SensorTower data.

BuzzFeed reports that China-based ByteDance employees person repeatedly accessed the nonpublic accusation of TikTok users, based connected leaked recordings from much than 80 interior TikTok meetings. TikTok responds with a vague remark touting its committedness to information that doesn't straight code the BuzzFeed report.

TikTok besides announces it has migrated its idiosyncratic information to U.S. servers managed by the U.S. tech steadfast Oracle. But that doesn't forestall caller alarm among U.S. officials astir the hazard of Chinese authorities accessing U.S. idiosyncratic data.

FBI Director Chris Wrap raises nationalist information concerns astir TikTok, informing that Chinese officials could manipulate the app's proposal algorithm for power operations.

The White House gives national agencies 30 days to guarantee TikTok is deleted from each government-issued mobile devices. Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission pass that ByteDance could stock TikTok idiosyncratic information with China’s authoritarian government.

A measure to prohibition TikTok oregon unit its merchantability to a U.S. institution gathers steam successful Congress. TikTok brings dozens of its creators to Washington to archer lawmakers to backmost off, portion emphasizing changes the institution has made to support idiosyncratic data. TikTok besides annoys legislators by sending notifications to users urging them to “speak up now” oregon hazard seeing TikTok banned; users past flood legislature offices with calls.

Legislators grill TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew astatine a six-hour legislature proceeding wherever Chew, a autochthonal of Singapore, attempts to propulsion backmost connected assertions that TikTok and ByteDance are tools of the Chinese government.

The House of Representatives passes the TikTok ban-or-sell bill.

The Senate follows suit, sending the measure to President Biden, who signs it.