A Chinese government propaganda outlet is quietly pushing content about US politics through TikTok, even as US officials work with its Chinese ownership to address growing national security concerns.
Some in the US government have long warned that TikTok, the first foreign social media service to take root in the country, could be used by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on US data or influence culture through recommendations of content
Now Forbes has revealed an account that racks up millions of hits with politically charged coverage of US news, and is run by an American branch of the CCP’s main broadcaster, China Central Television.
A video aimed at Democrats asked viewers if it was a “political manipulation tactic” for President Joe Biden to promise a bill codifying abortion rights. Another recent video describes why Native Americans do not trust the US government.
LinkedIn posts uncovered by Forbes said the account had garnered 8.3 million views in a 60-day period. Other accounts dating back to the CCP that posted about sustainability and Chinese culture garnered nearly 15 million combined views.
NewsToks’ China connection is easily missed in its bio section, which reads: “Material distributed by MediaLinks TV, LLC for CCTV.” The abbreviation “CCTV” is not widely recognized in the US and users must go to the bio section of the account to see it. On US social media services such as Twitter and Facebook, state affiliation is indicated directly on each post via a government-run account.
In a statement to Forbes, TikTok said it was working on the issue. “We intend to introduce our state-controlled media policy and corresponding labels globally next year as part of our continued focus on media literacy. As we previously confirmed, the global rollout will include China’s state media,” spokesman Jamie Favazza told the outlet.
Over the summer, TikTok’s head of public policy for the Americas, Michael Beckerman, went on CNN and downplayed the influence of foreign content on the app.
Asked by host Brian Stelter if the Chinese government could “influence the commercial, cultural or political behavior of Americans” through TikTok, Beckerman replied, “Yeah, I just don’t see it.” But on the same day, NewsToks posted two videos about police officers killing an unarmed black man and four about mass shootings, including one called “A Uniquely American Plague,” Forbes reported.
On the day the Forbes report came out, NewsToks hadn’t published a post in nine days. His most recent posts were on the Qatar World Cup, the legal status of capital punishment in the US and the Colorado Springs nightclub shooting.
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