TikTok, the popular short video app owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, is opening a transparency center in Los Angeles in an attempt to counter criticism of its practices and allow outside experts to examine how it moderates content, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The move comes nearly five months after the U.S. government launched a national security review of ByteDance Technology Co.'s $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly in 2017 after lawmakers called for a national security probe into TikTok over concerns the company may be censoring politically sensitive content and making personal user data accessible to China.
"This new facility in our LA office will provide outside experts an opportunity to directly view how our teams at TikTok go about the day-to-day challenging, but critically important, work of moderating content on the platform," said Vanessa Pappas, General Manager of TikTok US, in a blog post.
TikTok is especially popular among teens, with about 60% of the app's 26.5 million monthly active users in the U.S. between the ages of 16 and 24.
The Journal said the center will allow outside observers to get a view into issues including how TikTok moderators apply company guidelines and identify potential violations.
"Our landscape and industry is rapidly evolving, and we are aware that our systems, policies and practices are not flawless, which is why we are committed to constant improvement," TikTok said Wednesday.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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