Taiwanese people who spend large amounts of time on TikTok are more likely to agree with some pro-China narratives, a survey has suggested. The study, conducted by the Taiwan-based DoubleThink Lab, surveyed people across Taiwan in March, asking a series of questions about politics and democracy in Taiwan and China, and their views on unification of the two sides. It found that among the respondents, agreement with criticisms of Taiwan’s domestic issues, and with the prospect of unifying with China, rose as TikTok use increased, before dropping again among the…
Tag: Digital media
Draining cities dry: the giant tech companies queueing up to build datacentres in drought-hit Latin America
It is a warehouse the size of 12 football pitches that promises to create much-needed jobs and development in Caucaia city, north-east Brazil. But it won’t have shelves stocked with products. This vast building will be a datacentre, believed to be earmarked for TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app, as part of a 55bn reais (£7.3bn) project to expand its global datacentre infrastructure. As the demand for supercomputer facilities rises, fuelled by the AI boom, Brazil is attracting more and more tech companies. The choice of Caucaia is no accident. Several…
Why is US threatening to ban TikTok and will other countries follow suit?
Joe Biden has signed into law a bill that requires TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell the social media app’s US operations or face a ban, after the Senate passed the legislation. The law, part of a foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sets the clock ticking on a potential ban for a platform that is hugely popular in the US. Here is a guide to the TikTok legislation and what may happen next. How does the legislation pave the way for a sale or ban? The bill gives…
Congress is right to want to curtail TikTok’s power and influence | Nita Farahany
Imagine a world where America’s foreign adversaries don’t need spies or hackers to infiltrate our society or meddle with our democracy. Instead, they can deploy a far more insidious tool: a digital platform, addictive by design, that captivates its users and then mobilizes them to influence our democratic institutions. The scenario may sound farfetched, but something like that recently happened. Earlier this month, while the US Congress was considering a bill that would curtail TikTok’s operations in the United States, the popular, Chinese-owned social media platform confronted its users with…
Is the US really preparing to ban TikTok?
The House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would require TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the social media platform or face a total ban in the United States. The legislation now moves to the Senate, where its likelihood of passing is uncertain. But with a landslide of support in the House – 352 Congress members voted in favor of the bill and only 65 voted against – it’s clear that TikTok is facing its biggest existential threat yet in the US. Here’s what you need to know about the…
Chinese dancing frog goes viral doing the worm
An anthropomorphised frog has joined celebrity live-streamers and social media commentators among China’s ranks of influencers, as a trend that began with street sellers in Chinese cities takes on a new life online – and raised questions over who, if anyone, owns the intellectual property rights to a dancing amphibian. Alternatively known as a “frog seller” or “frog influencer”, the meme involves a person in a frog suit with a blue neckerchief selling frog-themed products such as balloons and toys. The magic ingredient for going viral on social media, though,…
Viral series about Chinese teapot escaping from British Museum to become film
A viral series on the Chinese version of TikTok about a jade teapot that turns into a woman and escapes from the British Museum is to be adapted into an animated film. The plot of Escape from the British Museum, a series made by two social media influencers, echoes Chinese state media calls for the British government to make amends for “historical sins” and return Chinese cultural relics. The series tells the story of the teapot as it tries to return to China with the help of a Chinese journalist…
China’s ‘good for marriage’ women’s trend ignites social media debate
A social media debate has erupted in China over a trend among some women to dress and behave in a way that’s “good for marriage”, with detractors saying it discourages independence. China, like much of east Asia, is battling with a demographic crisis and young people increasingly choose to forgo marriage and children. Last year China officially recorded its first decline in population for more than 60 years. As society grapples with government entreaties to build families amid rising living and child-rearing costs, some female influencers have driven an online…
No More Bets review – Chinese Wolf of Wall Street aims to teach moral lesson
It is a shame that either Chinese authorities had a word, or producers decided to aim for brownie points by fitting No More Bets out as an anti-fraud public-messaging spot – because Ao Shen’s thriller is otherwise a snappily directed and intriguing entrée to the industry of online deception. Compared with the unrepentant and far more effective dramatic irony of The Wolf of Wall Street, a film this one often resembles, we get unnecessary scenes of government officials reading the riot act to digital scammers, and a patriotic after-credits montage…
Chinese social media filled with anti-black racist content, says watchdog
Chinese social media is littered with racist videos, particularly content that mocks black people or portrays them through offensive racial stereotypes, research by Human Rights Watch (HRW) has found. The human rights watchdog analysed hundreds of videos posted on Chinese social media since 2021 and found that major platforms, including Bilibili, Douyin, Kuaishou, Weibo and Xiaohongshu, “do not routinely address racist content”. One type of video that is popular on Chinese social media portrays people in African countries as primitive or impoverished, with Chinese people – often the content creators…