A report by the Mozilla Foundation and AI Forensics has pointed out what they said was a lack of security features in the version of social media giant TikTok Lite widely used in developing countries.
The report, published on July 20, accused TikTok of neglecting its users outside the US and the European Union with the TikTok Lite app.
Lite apps are first launched in areas with weak internet and scant power connections or where users may use old versions of phones such as those of Android or Apple.
“Our research revealed TikTok Lite lacks basic protections afforded to other TikTok users, including content labels for graphic, AI-generated, misinformation and dangerous acts videos,” the report said.
For the Mozilla Foundation, TikTok lite does not provide enough tools for its users to control and filter offensive content and poses an issue of “trust and safety”.
According to the foundation, the following disclaimers: “The actions in this video are performed by professionals or supervised by professionals. Do not attempt” and “Participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt” are not featured in the TikTok Lite but are available on the main app.
The tech firms’ report also accused the app of not controlling misinformation properly. It noted that the “context tool banners” feature on the main TikTok application were also absent from TikTok Lite.
This is not the first time the US and Singapore headquartered company has been accused of such deficiencies.
It has been charged by the European Commission of misinformation and not ensuring the safety of its users under the Digital Services Act.
Instagram and Facebook owner Meta, ByteDance’s TikTok, and Elon Musk’s X have all been the primary targets of the EU’s crackdown on big tech, Brussels Signal has found. https://t.co/tQyhfS242G
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 21, 2024
TikTok claimed the report was not fully accurate.
“There are several factual inaccuracies in this report which fundamentally misrepresent our approach to safety,” a TikTok spokesperson told Brussels Signal.
“Content that breaks our rules is removed from TikTok Lite the same way as our main app and we offer numerous safety features which we would have explained if Mozilla asked us before publishing their report.”
According to TikTok, the company takes users’ safety seriously. It said eight regional Safety Advisory Councils, including in Asia Pacific, Brazil, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, have been established.
The company also noted that the main TikTok app is available in every country where TikTok Lite is offered.
Nevertheless, the Mozilla Foundation and AI Forensics report stated: “TikTok Lite’s lack of user controls has led to significant obstacles to its launch in Europe,” thus reinforcing their findings concerning what they said was double standards regarding users.
The EC threatened to close a TikTok Lite rewards service in Europe in April, leading to the company voluntarily shutting down the service in Europe for now.
Brussels is pushing Chinese internet technology company ByteDance on whether it is respecting EU transparency and child-protection rules with its newly released app, TikTok Lite. https://t.co/rC9P6FcGIK
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 22, 2024
