Chinese Government Asked TikTok for Stealth Propaganda Account

A Chinese government entity responsible for public relations attempted to open a stealth account on TikTok targeting Western audiences with propaganda, according to internal messages seen by Bloomberg. From a report: The attempt, which met with push-back from TikTok executives, highlights the internal tensions within the fast-growing social media app, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, which has constantly attempted to distance itself from Chinese state influence. In an April 2020 message addressed to Elizabeth Kanter, TikTok's head of government relations for the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and Israel, a colleague flagged a "Chinese government entity that's interested in joining TikTok but would not want to be openly seen as a government account as the main purpose is for promoting content that showcase the best side of China (some sort of propaganda)."

The messages indicate that some of ByteDance's most senior government relations team, including Kanter and US-based Erich Andersen, Global Head of Corporate Affairs and General Counsel, discussed the matter internally but pushed back on the request, which they described as "sensitive." TikTok used the incident to spark an internal discussion about other sensitive requests, the messages state. "We declined to offer support for this request, as we believed the creation of such an account would violate our Community Guidelines," said a TikTok spokeswoman, who downplayed the incident as an informal request from a friend of an employee. TikTok has rules against "coordinated inauthentic behavior," where accounts conceal their true identity to exert influence or sway public opinion, and against political advertising, the spokeswoman said.

Push-back? Suuuure...

[haunebu]

Oh yeah, I'm sure the local Chinese ByteDance team is pushing back *real hard* against the Chinese Communist Party... You know, the people who have zero respect for human rights and are more than willing to "disappear" one's entire family on a whim. Xi and the CCP get whatever they want, except for those darned ByteDance staffers.

Riiiight.

Re:Push-back? Suuuure...

[kaatochacha]

There are two options for this:

1) Tik Tok is an upstanding world citizen, while being based in Beijing, and daringly told the Chinese government to stuff it.

2) Tik Tok is based in Beijing and has been receiving flack for being viewed as easily catering to Chinese government dictates. Therefore, they created a fluff news piece about how they bravely stood up for their company independence to avoid continuing scrutiny outside China. Which is more likely?

Re:

[VeryFluffyBunny]

Only 2? How unimaginative of you. This is probably why China's going to overtake the USA as the most influential country on the planet.

Re:

[techno-vampire]

Does your tinfoil hat have the shiny side out or the dull side? It does make a difference, you know.

Re:

[VeryFluffyBunny]

I take it that's a, "No, I haven't."

Re:

[techno-vampire]

Not only is it a "No, I haven't," it's a polite way of telling you what I think of your claims.

Re:

[VeryFluffyBunny]

Are you saying you've never heard of "extraordinary rendition" during the Bush administration? In just one example, the Polish govt were successfully prosecuted for aiding the CIA by the European Court of Human Rights: https://www.reuters.com/articl... [reuters.com] If that's piqued your interest, you can also look up the Abu Ghraib torture & prisoner abuse program run by the US military & the CIA. There's also the arbitrary executions by drones, sometimes based on little more than cell phone data, that had obsce

Re:

[VeryFluffyBunny]

Whoops! Wrong topic. It's late here. Anyway, re In-Q-Tel, all you have to do is look it up on Wikipedia, for the "sanitised" version & Google for the more in-depth investigative journalism articles - You know, old-fashioned but expensive proper reporting rather than the cheap & cheerful divisive opinion articles & regurgitating messages from official sources that pass for news these days.

Re:

[pete6677]

Shut up

Re:

[VeryFluffyBunny]

No. When I see the pot calling the kettle black, I call it out. Like when Russia commits the worst crime possible, i.e. a war of aggression (against Ukraine), it's important to also make the public with short memories aware that the USA & UK committed the exact same crimes in Afghanistan & Iraq. The point is, they're all wrong but the reporting changes depending on whose side the media are on.

Re:

[Pinky's Brain]

I'm sure Kanter and Andersen made a dog and poney show of pushing back really hard, they never want to see evidence of CCP interference on the American networks where it can be subpoenaed.

They just want to be well paid figureheads in blissful ignorance.

Re:

[Opportunist]

Not an expert, but when you buttfuck someone you might want them to push back.

"Do you remember what happened to Alibaba?"

[ayesnymous]

Xi: "Do you remember what happened to Alibaba?"

These "leaks" are propaganda

[Anonymous Coward]

Do we really think that they just 'happened' to let Bloomberg see internal messages that cast the non-CCP Tiktok team as being concerned about privacy? I'm sure they're concerned, so far as they can put on an appearance that reduces scrutiny.

What power, exactly, do we think non-CCP employees have to push back against the owners of the company?

To

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

You mean officially asked to do this.

There are tons of sock puppets for all nations and organizations.

Just yesterday I was downmodded by not just one, but two such, presumably pro high credit card rate people, given my subject.

Re:

[TomGreenhaw]

>Just yesterday I was downmodded by not just one, but two such, presumably pro high credit card rate people, given my subject.

This. /. is becoming a battleground with anti-US propaganda and weaponizing the mod points system. It's time to start putting flags next to usernames so you can see what country the incendiary nationalistic attacks are coming from.

Re:

[Opportunist]

C'mon, this is /. You really think anyone here has a problem coming from Finland today, Abu Dhabi tomorrow and Tuvalu next Tuesday?

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

hahahaha why the fuck would any government of any country give a flying fuck what is going on in the slashdot comment section? you guys are so fucking off your meds is hopeless

literally no one, NO ONE cares about you or your slashdot comments.

Where are the heavy hitters?

[TomGreenhaw]

Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner come out swinging when Instagram adds video capability but seem to be silent on the privacy issues inherent to Tik Tok.

here's the truth:

[jm007]

they're all liars and bullshitters; the idea of people finding out the unvarnished truth is truly terrifiying to these people because it would show them to be quite different than the carefully curated images they purport to fulfill

so they go into full PR mode over an "... informal request from a friend of an employee..."

it would be easier to get a vampire to gargle a glass of garlic holy water than to get these types to speak with honest candor

What really happened....

[Kelxin]

Hey, lets make a news article about blocking a propaganda account to distract from the fact that we actually do have many propaganda accounts up and running to make the public think that the action was actually blocked, instead of up and running and spreading like wildfire.

Better suggestion for the Chinese government

[hackingbear]

They can hire Hill & Knowlton and the US Congress [wikipedia.org] to fabricate lies instead of pitching advertisements.

In other news

[Bruce66423]

The Pope still hasn't applied for membership of the Lutheran church, and ursine faecal material is still being found in forested areas...

The only interesting feature of this story is that it emerged at all. TikTok trying to pretend they can stand up to the Chinese regime?

Re:

[muh_freeze_peach]

Yeah. Do you want Nazis? Because that's how you get Nazis.

Chamber of Commerce?

[Surak_Prime]

If they really weren't up to anything nefarious (an open question, but for my current purpose I'm allowing it) and just wanted to promote China to the world... well, they are aware that they could have just opened an above-board, clear for all the world to see, chamber of commerce type account, right? I mean, there's nothing wrong with them talking themselves up to the world, they just have to be honest about who is doing it. Cities, states, and countries do that sort of thing all the time to drum up busine

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone here who even the slightest bit fairminded toward China is instantly labeled a Chinese troll and downmodded. Can you imagine all the anti-China shit they'd have to put up with?

Only one?

[Tablizer]

Xi is xlipping.

Re:

[PPH]

@winniethepooh

Re:

[Tablizer]

@WinnieThePoop

makes sense

[OrangeTide]

Propaganda is extremely effective on Westerners. Raised from birth on psychological manipulation by advertisers have left the door wide open for state actors to hack our society.

Re: makes sense

[ArmoredDragon]

I'd argue that if anything, that hardens you against propaganda. Eventually, the ads that really sucker you teach you to second guess whatever it is that you hear. When the government suckers you, the consequences are far less obvious.

China being duplicitous?

[denny_deluxe]

UNPOSSIBLE