The USA is investigating social media app TikTok – what does this mean for social media platforms & transparency?

The US has just recently launched a national security review into the acquisition of US social media app, Musical.ly by the China-based owner ByteDance. ByteDance purchased the popular lip-syncing app for $1 billion last year, merging it with China’s own version of the app, TikTok. The app allows users to curate short 15 second video clips, typically set to music in the background. TikTok has since turned into a social phenomenon, with an estimated download count of over 1.5 billion globally.