1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:25,077 --> 00:00:28,019 FEROZA: TikTok was a new app. 4 00:00:28,119 --> 00:00:33,623 I knew millions of people were downloading it by the day. 5 00:00:33,723 --> 00:00:36,905 And I just thought, "I want to post on a platform 6 00:00:37,005 --> 00:00:41,227 where younger generations are." 7 00:00:41,327 --> 00:00:43,669 Once I got into junior year of high school, 8 00:00:43,769 --> 00:00:47,591 I was like, "Okay, I'll give TikTok a try." 9 00:00:47,691 --> 00:00:50,753 I remember when I started seeing views pile up 10 00:00:50,853 --> 00:00:53,055 in the thousands, and hundred-thousands. 11 00:00:55,896 --> 00:00:57,397 I didn't know I had this much power 12 00:00:57,497 --> 00:01:03,401 just because I've been putting my voice on an app. 13 00:01:03,501 --> 00:01:06,083 On TikTok, anything can happen. 14 00:01:06,183 --> 00:01:11,806 ♪ ♪ 15 00:01:11,906 --> 00:01:14,808 ♪ Watermelon sugar high ♪ 16 00:01:14,908 --> 00:01:17,370 ♪ Watermelon sugar high ♪ 17 00:01:17,470 --> 00:01:18,691 ♪ Watermelon sugar ♪ 18 00:01:18,791 --> 00:01:20,532 ♪ Dream, dream, uh ♪ 19 00:01:20,632 --> 00:01:21,453 ♪ Yeah ♪ 20 00:01:21,553 --> 00:01:23,134 ♪ Listen to me now ♪ 21 00:01:23,234 --> 00:01:27,156 [beatboxing] 22 00:01:30,918 --> 00:01:33,940 ♪ ♪ 23 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,822 I guess I'm on TikTok now. 24 00:01:36,922 --> 00:01:37,943 TikTok has been downloaded 25 00:01:38,043 --> 00:01:39,264 more than two billion times, 26 00:01:39,364 --> 00:01:42,526 more than any app ever. 27 00:01:43,566 --> 00:01:46,028 I think TikTok right now is probably 28 00:01:46,128 --> 00:01:48,609 on the cutting edge of all social media... 29 00:01:50,651 --> 00:01:53,232 and it is becoming a world onto itself 30 00:01:53,332 --> 00:01:55,154 for a lot of people, 31 00:01:55,254 --> 00:01:56,995 especially young people. 32 00:01:57,095 --> 00:01:58,916 ♪ ♪ 33 00:01:59,016 --> 00:02:00,797 NEWSCASTER: TikTok is the first Chinese app 34 00:02:00,897 --> 00:02:03,699 to threaten the dominance of Silicon Valley. 35 00:02:05,660 --> 00:02:08,562 It's a cyber security story. 36 00:02:08,662 --> 00:02:11,444 It's an algorithm story. 37 00:02:11,544 --> 00:02:13,525 It's a biased story. 38 00:02:13,625 --> 00:02:15,166 It's a geopolitical story. 39 00:02:15,266 --> 00:02:18,328 ...TikTok. We may be banning TikTok. 40 00:02:18,428 --> 00:02:22,091 It was bizarre why when suddenly this 41 00:02:22,191 --> 00:02:24,332 kind of a fun little kids app, 42 00:02:24,432 --> 00:02:25,773 become wrapped up 43 00:02:25,873 --> 00:02:27,934 in this huge geopolitical storm 44 00:02:28,034 --> 00:02:31,056 between the US and China 45 00:02:31,156 --> 00:02:34,118 that was only getting hotter. 46 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:39,782 [sound of explosion] 47 00:02:39,882 --> 00:02:41,263 [electricity crackles] 48 00:02:41,363 --> 00:02:42,984 [car door closing] 49 00:02:43,084 --> 00:02:45,785 BOY: Fix your mirrors. Can I drive? 50 00:02:45,885 --> 00:02:48,007 FEROZA: Can you drive? 51 00:02:51,729 --> 00:02:55,071 So my family's from Afghanistan. 52 00:02:55,171 --> 00:02:57,233 They were just very grateful 53 00:02:57,333 --> 00:03:00,234 because they could finally come here. 54 00:03:00,334 --> 00:03:02,596 They were just amazed by the privileges 55 00:03:02,696 --> 00:03:04,317 that were being brought to them. 56 00:03:04,417 --> 00:03:06,158 You didn't--you didn't use your signal there. 57 00:03:06,258 --> 00:03:09,560 I did. Oh, I thought I did. 58 00:03:09,660 --> 00:03:14,523 My parents, their dreams of America 59 00:03:14,623 --> 00:03:17,365 were flourishing before 9/11, 60 00:03:17,465 --> 00:03:20,967 and then once those planes hit the towers, 61 00:03:21,067 --> 00:03:22,528 their dreams were shattered too, 62 00:03:22,628 --> 00:03:26,451 because it was as if they were responsible for that. 63 00:03:26,551 --> 00:03:28,132 ♪ ♪ 64 00:03:28,232 --> 00:03:30,453 Growing up as an Afghan-American, 65 00:03:30,553 --> 00:03:32,555 it was really rough. 66 00:03:35,396 --> 00:03:37,678 I'll just have a small amount. 67 00:03:38,438 --> 00:03:40,219 Yesterday, he was teaching me how to drive. 68 00:03:40,319 --> 00:03:42,381 Every five seconds, "Don't scratch my rims. 69 00:03:42,481 --> 00:03:43,742 Don't scratch my rims." Oh, my God. 70 00:03:43,842 --> 00:03:46,704 I'm not gonna scratch your rims. I know how to drive. 71 00:03:46,804 --> 00:03:48,625 The only times where I feel like I belong 72 00:03:48,725 --> 00:03:50,586 is with my family. 73 00:03:50,686 --> 00:03:53,308 My cousins, my brother... 74 00:03:53,408 --> 00:03:55,349 I--I feel like I have a place with them, 75 00:03:55,449 --> 00:03:59,371 because they understand where I come from. 76 00:04:00,012 --> 00:04:01,593 How'd you make it look pretty? 77 00:04:01,693 --> 00:04:02,754 - Why? - Like, it looks like 78 00:04:02,854 --> 00:04:04,475 a Instagram picture. 79 00:04:04,575 --> 00:04:06,116 We had a phase, 80 00:04:06,216 --> 00:04:09,238 growing up as children of refugees 81 00:04:09,338 --> 00:04:14,061 in a country that doesn't like refugees... 82 00:04:17,343 --> 00:04:21,025 And my school isn't diverse at all. 83 00:04:21,866 --> 00:04:24,567 I don't feel like I'm one of them. 84 00:04:24,667 --> 00:04:25,648 I don't think my classmates 85 00:04:25,748 --> 00:04:28,250 even think that I'm one of them. 86 00:04:28,350 --> 00:04:30,331 I got called a terrorist. 87 00:04:30,431 --> 00:04:32,332 I got called Bin Laden. 88 00:04:32,432 --> 00:04:34,694 I've been called a part of the Taliban, 89 00:04:34,794 --> 00:04:36,014 since I'm Afghan. 90 00:04:36,114 --> 00:04:37,695 I've been called all these things. 91 00:04:37,795 --> 00:04:40,337 ♪ ♪ 92 00:04:40,437 --> 00:04:43,259 And I always felt like an outsider. 93 00:04:43,359 --> 00:04:46,001 ♪ ♪ 94 00:04:49,483 --> 00:04:51,504 My mom made these two. 95 00:04:51,604 --> 00:04:55,547 I wore this dress on my TikTok. 96 00:04:55,647 --> 00:04:58,468 I have gone viral a few times. 97 00:04:58,568 --> 00:05:01,110 It was my first time posting on TikTok. 98 00:05:01,210 --> 00:05:04,512 It was like 40,000 views I've gotten on it. 99 00:05:04,612 --> 00:05:08,155 And it was just me dancing with my Afghan clothes on. 100 00:05:08,255 --> 00:05:11,757 The response was like amazing because through TikTok 101 00:05:11,857 --> 00:05:13,678 I found so many other Afghans, 102 00:05:13,778 --> 00:05:16,480 and so many other Afghan-Americans. 103 00:05:16,580 --> 00:05:20,402 I never knew how big the Afghan-American community was 104 00:05:20,502 --> 00:05:22,163 'til I joined TikTok 105 00:05:22,263 --> 00:05:24,685 and I've seen more people accepting me for who I am. 106 00:05:24,785 --> 00:05:27,247 [exotic music playing] 107 00:05:27,347 --> 00:05:28,808 I got so excited. [giggles] 108 00:05:28,908 --> 00:05:31,889 I really wanna be a part of my community more 109 00:05:31,989 --> 00:05:33,771 through TikTok. 110 00:05:33,871 --> 00:05:39,874 ♪ ♪ 111 00:05:40,355 --> 00:05:42,616 ♪ Wipe, wipe, wipe it down ♪ 112 00:05:42,716 --> 00:05:44,257 ♪ Wipe, wipe ♪ 113 00:05:44,357 --> 00:05:47,419 TikTok is an app that's completely different 114 00:05:47,519 --> 00:05:49,300 than any other type of social media 115 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:51,622 or entertainment platform that we've ever seen before. 116 00:05:51,722 --> 00:05:55,024 TikTok was the first platform to really popularise 117 00:05:55,124 --> 00:05:57,505 high quality vertical video content, 118 00:05:57,605 --> 00:05:59,787 which just makes it so easy to consume. 119 00:05:59,887 --> 00:06:01,428 ♪ ♪ 120 00:06:01,528 --> 00:06:02,709 The "For You" page is completely, 121 00:06:02,809 --> 00:06:04,190 individually tailored to you, 122 00:06:04,290 --> 00:06:06,731 based on the data that they gather about you. 123 00:06:07,572 --> 00:06:09,713 I mean, I cannot explain 124 00:06:09,813 --> 00:06:11,554 how fantastic this algorithm is 125 00:06:11,654 --> 00:06:13,796 at delivering you exactly what you didn't even know 126 00:06:13,896 --> 00:06:15,036 that you wanted. 127 00:06:15,136 --> 00:06:17,518 ♪ ♪ 128 00:06:17,618 --> 00:06:20,360 What TikTok does so well is discovery, 129 00:06:20,460 --> 00:06:23,001 it allows you to drill down on the whole internet, 130 00:06:23,101 --> 00:06:25,723 and find these really specific groups of people 131 00:06:25,823 --> 00:06:27,604 that resonate with you. 132 00:06:27,704 --> 00:06:29,966 ♪ ♪ 133 00:06:30,066 --> 00:06:33,208 It's just any kind of niche, subculture or community 134 00:06:33,308 --> 00:06:35,869 where you can find creators that are in that niche. 135 00:06:36,470 --> 00:06:38,251 People just get discovered much faster, 136 00:06:38,351 --> 00:06:39,612 they blow up much faster, 137 00:06:39,712 --> 00:06:41,853 and it's just... everything goes ten times 138 00:06:41,953 --> 00:06:44,935 more viral than it would on any other social app. 139 00:06:45,035 --> 00:06:47,617 It's remaking the food landscape, 140 00:06:47,717 --> 00:06:50,138 the fashion landscape... 141 00:06:50,238 --> 00:06:52,780 People learning on TikTok... 142 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:55,862 It's hard to find an industry that TikTok hasn't infiltrated 143 00:06:55,962 --> 00:06:57,543 or disrupted. 144 00:06:57,643 --> 00:06:59,624 ANNOUNCER: TikTok has captured the attention 145 00:06:59,724 --> 00:07:01,706 of the world's most lucrative market, 146 00:07:01,806 --> 00:07:03,147 young people. 147 00:07:03,247 --> 00:07:06,709 And with it, the power to reshape the future. 148 00:07:06,809 --> 00:07:09,631 [robotic vocalisation] 149 00:07:09,731 --> 00:07:11,472 DJ Spencer in the home. 150 00:07:11,572 --> 00:07:13,153 [humming] Mix. 151 00:07:13,253 --> 00:07:17,195 [beatboxing] 152 00:07:17,295 --> 00:07:19,077 My friend Scott comes up to me, 153 00:07:19,177 --> 00:07:21,758 and he goes, "Hey, man, I wanna show you something 154 00:07:21,858 --> 00:07:23,760 you've never heard before." 155 00:07:23,860 --> 00:07:26,281 [beatboxing] 156 00:07:26,381 --> 00:07:29,723 And I was like, "What did you just do right now?" 157 00:07:29,823 --> 00:07:32,485 Like, "Is this a trick? Is this a game?" Like... 158 00:07:32,585 --> 00:07:34,846 And he was like, "No, no, no, dude, it's called beatboxing. 159 00:07:34,946 --> 00:07:36,928 You make music with your mouth." 160 00:07:37,028 --> 00:07:39,890 And I'm like, "You are doing that with your face?" 161 00:07:39,990 --> 00:07:42,411 [beatboxing] 162 00:07:42,511 --> 00:07:46,294 I was 15. I was a sophomore in high school, 163 00:07:46,394 --> 00:07:49,516 and I remember that moment just being magic to me. 164 00:07:50,796 --> 00:07:53,458 Like it was love at first sound. 165 00:07:53,558 --> 00:07:55,619 [beatboxing] 166 00:07:55,719 --> 00:07:58,421 This is Spencer Polanco, and this is what I do. 167 00:07:58,521 --> 00:07:59,902 [beatboxing] 168 00:08:00,002 --> 00:08:03,644 And I decided that night I was gonna be a beatboxer. 169 00:08:04,085 --> 00:08:06,987 But you can also imagine me busting out of my room 170 00:08:07,087 --> 00:08:09,108 just, you know, wild Spencer... 171 00:08:09,208 --> 00:08:10,629 full of excitement in my eyes. 172 00:08:10,729 --> 00:08:14,351 "Dad! Mom! I know what I wanna do for the rest of my life. 173 00:08:14,451 --> 00:08:17,273 I wanna be a beatboxer." 174 00:08:17,373 --> 00:08:18,954 And then they looked at me like I was crazy. 175 00:08:19,054 --> 00:08:23,837 [beatboxing] 176 00:08:23,937 --> 00:08:25,798 ♪ Spencer beatbox ♪ 177 00:08:25,898 --> 00:08:27,720 I grew up in New York City. 178 00:08:27,820 --> 00:08:31,442 My father is from Ecuador, and he came here 179 00:08:31,542 --> 00:08:32,963 and found my mom. 180 00:08:33,063 --> 00:08:36,965 My mom is first generation, uh, Chinese family. 181 00:08:37,065 --> 00:08:38,326 My father, uh... 182 00:08:38,426 --> 00:08:40,167 He wanted me to be a tennis player, 183 00:08:40,267 --> 00:08:42,249 and my mom wanted me to be a doctor. 184 00:08:42,349 --> 00:08:44,490 And then when I expressed something 185 00:08:44,590 --> 00:08:47,372 they didn't understand, which is beatboxing, 186 00:08:47,472 --> 00:08:50,734 they were accepting, but confused, 187 00:08:50,834 --> 00:08:53,336 and then unaccepting and even more confused. 188 00:08:53,436 --> 00:08:56,778 [beatboxing] 189 00:08:56,878 --> 00:08:59,780 I--I struggled with a little bit of anxiety 190 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,141 and depression when I was in college. 191 00:09:02,241 --> 00:09:03,742 I had to make a decision, 192 00:09:03,842 --> 00:09:06,844 and I said no to formal education. 193 00:09:07,564 --> 00:09:09,386 And I said yes to beatboxing. 194 00:09:09,486 --> 00:09:10,827 I mean, I was a struggling artist. 195 00:09:10,927 --> 00:09:13,788 I was a... typical artist that was 196 00:09:13,888 --> 00:09:15,309 I was performing in the streets 197 00:09:15,409 --> 00:09:16,550 of New York City. 198 00:09:16,650 --> 00:09:19,152 I was in the subways, busking... 199 00:09:19,252 --> 00:09:22,534 Some days, you make $20 working all day. 200 00:09:25,095 --> 00:09:26,556 When I started TikTok, 201 00:09:26,656 --> 00:09:28,197 I had to look at myself in the mirror, 202 00:09:28,297 --> 00:09:31,319 and say, "If this isn't gonna happen right now, 203 00:09:31,419 --> 00:09:32,760 it's not gonna happen." 204 00:09:32,860 --> 00:09:36,923 Okay, this is the first viral video. 205 00:09:37,023 --> 00:09:39,765 [chugging] 206 00:09:39,865 --> 00:09:40,805 [exhaling] 207 00:09:40,905 --> 00:09:44,208 [beatboxing] 208 00:09:44,308 --> 00:09:45,809 Look at my hair. 209 00:09:45,909 --> 00:09:49,771 I didn't even, like, fix my hair for this video. 210 00:09:49,871 --> 00:09:52,413 And that was a six-second video. 211 00:09:52,513 --> 00:09:53,253 [beatboxing] 212 00:09:53,353 --> 00:09:55,254 I woke up the next day 213 00:09:55,354 --> 00:09:59,337 and it had, like, three million views. 214 00:09:59,437 --> 00:10:01,458 And I was just genuinely confused. 215 00:10:01,558 --> 00:10:04,100 I was like, "Oh, my God. They like me." 216 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:07,702 I look at it and I'm like, "There's something here." 217 00:10:07,802 --> 00:10:11,024 So I decided to post more, and I decided to do 218 00:10:11,124 --> 00:10:12,825 everything single idea I possibly could." 219 00:10:12,925 --> 00:10:16,368 [beatboxing] 220 00:10:20,610 --> 00:10:21,831 TikTok topping Facebook 221 00:10:21,931 --> 00:10:24,633 to become the world's most downloaded app. 222 00:10:24,733 --> 00:10:26,874 TikTok is absolutely massive. 223 00:10:26,974 --> 00:10:28,155 TAYLOR: Last year, they reported they have 224 00:10:28,255 --> 00:10:29,676 over two billion users, 225 00:10:29,776 --> 00:10:32,398 with almost a billion monthly active users. 226 00:10:32,498 --> 00:10:34,159 People spend more time on TikTok per day 227 00:10:34,259 --> 00:10:38,021 than Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube. 228 00:10:38,782 --> 00:10:41,724 Facebook is absolutely desperate right now 229 00:10:41,824 --> 00:10:44,485 to regain any semblance of relevance, 230 00:10:44,585 --> 00:10:46,727 which they've lost quite a while ago. 231 00:10:46,827 --> 00:10:49,729 In many areas, we're behind our competitors. 232 00:10:49,829 --> 00:10:52,370 The fastest growing app is TikTok. 233 00:10:52,470 --> 00:10:53,971 The elephant in the room, of course, 234 00:10:54,071 --> 00:10:56,373 is the fact that TikTok is owned by ByteDance, 235 00:10:56,473 --> 00:10:57,894 a Chinese company. 236 00:10:57,994 --> 00:11:00,655 And it's the first time we've seen a huge Chinese 237 00:11:00,755 --> 00:11:03,377 consumer tech company come in and dominate 238 00:11:03,477 --> 00:11:05,478 the American market. 239 00:11:06,359 --> 00:11:08,140 ♪ ♪ 240 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:09,981 SHELLY: So there was this guy from China 241 00:11:10,081 --> 00:11:11,983 named Zhang Yiming. 242 00:11:12,083 --> 00:11:13,584 He worked for a number of startups 243 00:11:13,684 --> 00:11:16,265 before starting up his own company, 244 00:11:16,365 --> 00:11:17,706 a company called ByteDance. 245 00:11:17,806 --> 00:11:19,227 ♪ ♪ 246 00:11:19,327 --> 00:11:22,389 The thing that struck me the most about TikTok 247 00:11:22,489 --> 00:11:24,791 was just how calculated their founders were 248 00:11:24,891 --> 00:11:26,832 from the very beginning about their goal, 249 00:11:26,932 --> 00:11:29,113 which was to become this kind of global force, 250 00:11:29,213 --> 00:11:32,916 and really, like, penetrate the, you know, the zeitgeist 251 00:11:33,016 --> 00:11:34,797 of the US. 252 00:11:34,897 --> 00:11:36,318 ♪ ♪ 253 00:11:36,418 --> 00:11:37,679 The story is going to sound very similar 254 00:11:37,779 --> 00:11:40,320 to many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. 255 00:11:40,420 --> 00:11:43,162 Zhang Yiming came from a middle class family. 256 00:11:43,262 --> 00:11:45,403 And he basically just had this dream 257 00:11:45,503 --> 00:11:48,525 that he was going to make something important of himself. 258 00:11:48,625 --> 00:11:50,166 ♪ ♪ 259 00:11:50,266 --> 00:11:53,208 So, when the iPhone came out, in the late 2000s, 260 00:11:53,308 --> 00:11:55,810 he was just really blown away by the fact 261 00:11:55,910 --> 00:11:58,692 that you could have a full computing device, 262 00:11:58,792 --> 00:12:00,053 small enough to fit in your pocket, 263 00:12:00,153 --> 00:12:01,814 and he was just convinced mobile internet 264 00:12:01,914 --> 00:12:04,736 was going to be the next once in a lifetime opportunity 265 00:12:04,836 --> 00:12:06,577 that you'd read about in history books, 266 00:12:06,677 --> 00:12:08,338 and he was determined to take advantage 267 00:12:08,438 --> 00:12:10,019 of this big wave. 268 00:12:10,119 --> 00:12:13,641 ♪ ♪ 269 00:12:24,848 --> 00:12:25,989 They started in an apartment, 270 00:12:26,089 --> 00:12:27,910 which is very common in Chinese... 271 00:12:28,010 --> 00:12:30,452 sort of internet entrepreneurship lore. 272 00:12:40,018 --> 00:12:43,040 About 2015 or so, ByteDance was doing 273 00:12:43,140 --> 00:12:44,721 experiments with video, 274 00:12:44,821 --> 00:12:47,562 and Yiming had this sort of strange idea 275 00:12:47,662 --> 00:12:50,524 about recommendation engines which serves you content 276 00:12:50,624 --> 00:12:52,625 that it thinks you'd be interested in. 277 00:13:08,075 --> 00:13:09,856 So ByteDance bought Duoyin. 278 00:13:09,956 --> 00:13:13,098 ♪ ♪ 279 00:13:13,198 --> 00:13:14,699 Within six months after launch 280 00:13:14,799 --> 00:13:16,901 it hit this inflection point. 281 00:13:17,001 --> 00:13:19,082 Somehow it just became viral. 282 00:13:20,603 --> 00:13:25,766 [singing in Chinese] 283 00:13:38,734 --> 00:13:39,595 Yo, what's going on? 284 00:13:39,695 --> 00:13:41,956 Dude, it is so hot. 285 00:13:42,056 --> 00:13:43,197 Dude, why don't you just go get some 286 00:13:43,297 --> 00:13:44,518 Ben & Jerry's ice cream? 287 00:13:44,618 --> 00:13:49,281 People pay me to put their product in my videos. 288 00:13:49,381 --> 00:13:51,002 It's--it's--it's crazy. 289 00:13:51,102 --> 00:13:52,683 These are from this week. 290 00:13:52,783 --> 00:13:54,524 They're so many. Look. 291 00:13:54,624 --> 00:13:57,886 I get, like, clothes from, like, all different 292 00:13:57,986 --> 00:13:59,447 major brands. 293 00:13:59,547 --> 00:14:01,549 Look at that. 294 00:14:17,479 --> 00:14:19,820 ANNOUNCER: After the success of Douyin in China, 295 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:21,661 ByteDance acquired Musical.ly, 296 00:14:21,761 --> 00:14:23,783 a lip-synch app already popular 297 00:14:23,883 --> 00:14:26,885 with kids and young teens in the US. 298 00:14:27,805 --> 00:14:30,067 And merged them, rebranding the app 299 00:14:30,167 --> 00:14:32,168 as TikTok. 300 00:14:34,009 --> 00:14:36,591 One thing Zhang Yiming did was to create 301 00:14:36,691 --> 00:14:38,032 two different products. 302 00:14:38,132 --> 00:14:40,513 Duoyin was for the Chinese market, 303 00:14:40,613 --> 00:14:41,874 and it was a Chinese app, 304 00:14:41,974 --> 00:14:42,955 and TikTok was 305 00:14:43,055 --> 00:14:44,596 for the global market. 306 00:14:44,696 --> 00:14:46,277 And what that meant 307 00:14:46,377 --> 00:14:47,998 was that he could keep the Chinese app 308 00:14:48,098 --> 00:14:50,639 walled off in China, with Chinese rules, 309 00:14:50,739 --> 00:14:53,021 and then keep TikTok for the rest of the globe. 310 00:14:54,102 --> 00:14:55,883 TikTok was, all of the sudden, 311 00:14:55,983 --> 00:14:58,725 this huge success from day one. 312 00:14:58,825 --> 00:15:00,726 TikTok has done what no other Chinese-made app 313 00:15:00,826 --> 00:15:01,887 has done before. 314 00:15:01,987 --> 00:15:03,608 It's cracked the international market, 315 00:15:03,708 --> 00:15:05,489 and become a global sensation. 316 00:15:05,589 --> 00:15:06,810 ANNOUNCER: TikTok is now available 317 00:15:06,910 --> 00:15:10,412 in 154 countries and 75 languages, 318 00:15:10,512 --> 00:15:13,033 rivalling Silicon Valley's biggest apps. 319 00:15:19,918 --> 00:15:21,539 TikTok and its owner ByteDance 320 00:15:21,639 --> 00:15:24,181 were the first Chinese social media company 321 00:15:24,281 --> 00:15:26,342 to really provide a wake-up call 322 00:15:26,442 --> 00:15:28,943 to Facebook, Google, Amazon, and others, 323 00:15:29,043 --> 00:15:31,665 that it's not just about Silicone Valley 324 00:15:31,765 --> 00:15:33,546 bringing technology to the world, 325 00:15:33,646 --> 00:15:35,348 but, really, that China's a real force 326 00:15:35,448 --> 00:15:37,449 to be reckoned with. 327 00:15:39,850 --> 00:15:41,752 MATTHEW: There's sort of this perception 328 00:15:41,852 --> 00:15:42,792 that there was too much 329 00:15:42,892 --> 00:15:44,393 of a cultural difference 330 00:15:44,493 --> 00:15:47,195 between China and the rest of the world 331 00:15:47,295 --> 00:15:49,997 and that Chinese companies didn't know to build 332 00:15:50,097 --> 00:15:52,558 globally successful social media. 333 00:15:52,658 --> 00:15:56,100 I think TikTok's completely blown that out of water. 334 00:15:57,341 --> 00:16:00,924 The world we all grew up in was one where America 335 00:16:01,024 --> 00:16:02,925 dominated culturally, 336 00:16:03,025 --> 00:16:05,566 where it dominated technologically, 337 00:16:05,666 --> 00:16:08,368 and the world that we would end up retiring in 338 00:16:08,468 --> 00:16:11,930 would probably be one where China dominates 339 00:16:12,030 --> 00:16:14,032 in most of those areas. 340 00:16:14,672 --> 00:16:17,334 Power's shifting to China rapidly. 341 00:16:17,434 --> 00:16:20,035 And ByteDance and the story of TikTok is part of that. 342 00:16:26,159 --> 00:16:27,620 - Hi. - Hi. 343 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:29,702 - How are you? - Good. 344 00:16:29,802 --> 00:16:30,902 So what are you gonna do? 345 00:16:31,002 --> 00:16:33,544 I wanna play with... adding just, like, 346 00:16:33,644 --> 00:16:35,305 more dimension to my hair, 347 00:16:35,405 --> 00:16:37,346 it's, like, a little flat... 348 00:16:37,446 --> 00:16:38,467 Yes. 349 00:16:38,567 --> 00:16:39,748 DEJA: I think that it's scary 350 00:16:39,848 --> 00:16:41,989 to be the first generation, 351 00:16:42,089 --> 00:16:44,071 to have our entire lives documented. 352 00:16:44,171 --> 00:16:45,832 ♪ ♪ 353 00:16:45,932 --> 00:16:48,433 Every action, you know, every haircut, 354 00:16:48,533 --> 00:16:51,575 every look change... it's on people's radars. 355 00:16:52,216 --> 00:16:54,637 You know, I work a job where so much of it 356 00:16:54,737 --> 00:16:57,319 is, like, looking... being looked at, or... 357 00:16:57,419 --> 00:17:00,321 - Yeah. - Looking at myself, honestly. 358 00:17:00,421 --> 00:17:01,562 Big deal. 359 00:17:01,662 --> 00:17:04,243 So, I'm influencer and content creation work, 360 00:17:04,343 --> 00:17:07,645 so I went viral for the first time, 361 00:17:07,745 --> 00:17:10,287 uh, when I was 16 years old for a confrontation 362 00:17:10,387 --> 00:17:11,528 with my Senator. 363 00:17:11,628 --> 00:17:13,889 Republican Senator Jeff Flake held a town hall 364 00:17:13,989 --> 00:17:15,971 in Mesa, Arizona last night, 365 00:17:16,071 --> 00:17:17,932 and got an earful from 16-year-old activist 366 00:17:18,032 --> 00:17:19,333 Deja Foxx. Take a look. 367 00:17:19,433 --> 00:17:22,375 So I'm a young woman, and you're a middle-aged man. 368 00:17:22,475 --> 00:17:24,576 - I'm a person of colour... - Ouch. 369 00:17:24,676 --> 00:17:27,698 ...and you're white. Uhm, I come from a background 370 00:17:27,798 --> 00:17:29,659 of poverty and I didn't always have parents 371 00:17:29,759 --> 00:17:30,780 to guide me through life. 372 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:32,881 You come from privilege. 373 00:17:40,926 --> 00:17:43,708 Why would you deny me the American Dream? 374 00:17:43,808 --> 00:17:45,109 DEJA: I woke up the next morning, 375 00:17:45,209 --> 00:17:48,151 and 18 million people had seen that video. 376 00:17:48,251 --> 00:17:50,752 And I had a request to my email to go live on CNN. 377 00:17:50,852 --> 00:17:53,474 I can't sit idly by while women like me 378 00:17:53,574 --> 00:17:55,876 are countlessly and constantly being ignored 379 00:17:55,976 --> 00:17:57,276 on Capitol Hill. 380 00:17:57,376 --> 00:17:59,958 And I suddenly realised that all those things 381 00:18:00,058 --> 00:18:01,279 I've been putting on social 382 00:18:01,379 --> 00:18:03,881 that I thought were only going to the people 383 00:18:03,981 --> 00:18:07,963 who knew me, overnight I could be visible 384 00:18:08,063 --> 00:18:10,245 to people that I will never know. 385 00:18:10,345 --> 00:18:11,685 ♪ ♪ 386 00:18:11,785 --> 00:18:14,947 The internet connected me to the entire world. 387 00:18:20,751 --> 00:18:23,913 TikTok is a blowup overnight kind of place. 388 00:18:24,994 --> 00:18:30,417 On any platform where you can get extreme reach, 389 00:18:30,517 --> 00:18:32,539 you open yourself up to benefits, right? 390 00:18:32,639 --> 00:18:35,300 larger followings, more views, 391 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:37,862 more attention. 392 00:18:37,962 --> 00:18:40,584 You must open yourself up to more hate, 393 00:18:40,684 --> 00:18:44,626 to people who are going to tear you down, 394 00:18:44,726 --> 00:18:47,828 tear you apart, pick at you... 395 00:18:47,928 --> 00:18:51,690 I live in a pretty constant state of anxiety. 396 00:18:52,371 --> 00:18:54,832 I don't know what it's like to live in a world 397 00:18:54,932 --> 00:18:57,934 where I'm not being perceived always. 398 00:18:58,855 --> 00:19:00,396 And it's this tug of war between... 399 00:19:00,496 --> 00:19:02,077 that's kind of what I want, 400 00:19:02,177 --> 00:19:07,240 and it's kind of the thing I fear the most. 401 00:19:07,340 --> 00:19:09,802 I think there is a really interesting line 402 00:19:09,902 --> 00:19:12,964 between what it means to be empowered 403 00:19:13,064 --> 00:19:14,725 by your sexuality, 404 00:19:14,825 --> 00:19:18,067 versus being exploited by it online. 405 00:19:19,148 --> 00:19:22,570 I definitely think that women are seeing 406 00:19:22,670 --> 00:19:24,611 larger followings, more attention, 407 00:19:24,711 --> 00:19:27,893 from the ways that they're being sexualised online. 408 00:19:27,993 --> 00:19:31,856 You can be a bad bitch in a bikini 409 00:19:31,956 --> 00:19:34,737 and a boss bitch in a blazer. 410 00:19:34,837 --> 00:19:36,839 Do both. 411 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:43,563 The posts where I'm showing more skin do better. 412 00:19:44,804 --> 00:19:47,185 But I also question why that is. 413 00:19:47,285 --> 00:19:50,347 If we think that these platforms really are just showing us 414 00:19:50,447 --> 00:19:53,389 the most popular content, without really interrogating 415 00:19:53,489 --> 00:19:56,071 why we're seeing what we're seeing. 416 00:19:56,171 --> 00:19:58,753 That's dangerous. 417 00:19:58,853 --> 00:20:01,514 There is so much mystery to the algorithm. 418 00:20:01,614 --> 00:20:04,556 The algorithm. Like, what does that even mean? 419 00:20:04,656 --> 00:20:08,399 When I call your name I shall place the sorting hat 420 00:20:08,499 --> 00:20:10,160 on your head... 421 00:20:10,260 --> 00:20:12,241 and you'll be sorted in your Houses. 422 00:20:12,341 --> 00:20:14,202 EUGENE: I refer to TikTok as a sorting hat, 423 00:20:14,302 --> 00:20:16,043 in reference to the sorting hat 424 00:20:16,143 --> 00:20:17,244 from "Harry Potter." 425 00:20:17,344 --> 00:20:19,486 When the kids show up at Hogwarts, 426 00:20:19,586 --> 00:20:21,167 there's this magical sorting hat 427 00:20:21,267 --> 00:20:24,088 that sorts them into one of the four schools. 428 00:20:24,188 --> 00:20:26,970 TikTok's recommendation algorithm serves 429 00:20:27,070 --> 00:20:28,971 as that type of sorting hat. 430 00:20:29,071 --> 00:20:32,494 It sorts its users into different audiences, 431 00:20:32,594 --> 00:20:36,256 then it sorts videos into different clusters 432 00:20:36,356 --> 00:20:37,977 that appeal to different audiences. 433 00:20:38,077 --> 00:20:41,059 Most apps, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram 434 00:20:41,159 --> 00:20:43,100 you actually have to follow a lot of accounts, 435 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,302 or other people, or people you know. 436 00:20:45,402 --> 00:20:48,224 TikTok is very different, in that, even if you 437 00:20:48,324 --> 00:20:50,785 didn't follow anybody, you would over time, 438 00:20:50,885 --> 00:20:52,426 just by using the app, 439 00:20:52,526 --> 00:20:54,988 get a very personalised entertainment experience 440 00:20:55,088 --> 00:20:57,469 for yourself. 441 00:20:57,569 --> 00:21:00,151 Is anyone else, like, a little weirded out 442 00:21:00,251 --> 00:21:02,913 about how specific TikTok's algorithm gets 443 00:21:03,013 --> 00:21:04,514 for the "For You" page. 444 00:21:04,614 --> 00:21:07,155 EUGENE: The "For You" page on TikTok is the default 445 00:21:07,255 --> 00:21:09,317 that the app opens into. 446 00:21:09,417 --> 00:21:11,038 On the one hand, it has a bunch of attributes 447 00:21:11,138 --> 00:21:12,399 about the video. 448 00:21:12,499 --> 00:21:15,240 It has the song in it. It has a dog. 449 00:21:15,340 --> 00:21:17,562 And the other, it has a bunch of attributes about you, 450 00:21:17,662 --> 00:21:21,604 you're this age, you live here, 451 00:21:21,704 --> 00:21:25,247 those are contextual clues to feed their algorithm 452 00:21:25,347 --> 00:21:28,569 to determine what your tastes are. 453 00:21:28,669 --> 00:21:30,450 My TikTok algorithm is just like, 454 00:21:30,550 --> 00:21:33,011 "You have ADHD, you have BPD, 455 00:21:33,111 --> 00:21:34,372 you're depressed." 456 00:21:35,472 --> 00:21:37,574 EUGENE: When you're looking at each video 457 00:21:37,674 --> 00:21:40,415 on the "For You" page, TikTok, the app, 458 00:21:40,515 --> 00:21:44,298 is looking at how we react to that video. 459 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:47,861 The algorithm starts to become smarter 460 00:21:47,961 --> 00:21:49,903 and just off of these long sessions 461 00:21:50,002 --> 00:21:53,545 where you're addictively scrolling through videos. 462 00:21:53,645 --> 00:21:57,908 And then adjust what videos it shows you in the future. 463 00:21:58,008 --> 00:22:00,629 And over time, it builds almost a fingerprint 464 00:22:00,729 --> 00:22:02,511 of your tastes. 465 00:22:03,611 --> 00:22:05,752 I'm talking, like, I was just thinking about 466 00:22:05,852 --> 00:22:07,193 making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, 467 00:22:07,293 --> 00:22:09,034 and then, out of nowhere, someone is making 468 00:22:09,134 --> 00:22:11,635 a peanut butter and jelly on my "For You" page. 469 00:22:11,734 --> 00:22:13,876 But lately, I kid you not, it hasn't been things 470 00:22:13,975 --> 00:22:15,677 that I Google or I talk about, 471 00:22:15,776 --> 00:22:17,398 it's been thoughts. 472 00:22:17,496 --> 00:22:19,560 Are any other girls, like, kind of aggravated 473 00:22:19,658 --> 00:22:21,320 that it took more than 20 years to figure out 474 00:22:21,419 --> 00:22:23,322 we were bisexual, but it took my TikTok algorithm 475 00:22:23,421 --> 00:22:25,763 like 37 seconds? 476 00:22:25,861 --> 00:22:28,284 EUGENE: TikTok is just the latest manifestation 477 00:22:28,386 --> 00:22:30,765 of the power that comes from connecting 478 00:22:30,867 --> 00:22:34,207 billions of people in the world with really powerful 479 00:22:34,310 --> 00:22:38,051 machine learning recommendation algorithms. 480 00:22:38,149 --> 00:22:40,213 The creator economy is the fastest growing type 481 00:22:40,312 --> 00:22:42,175 of small business, with more than 50 million people 482 00:22:42,274 --> 00:22:44,215 around the world who consider themselves 483 00:22:44,313 --> 00:22:45,617 to be Content Creators. 484 00:22:45,716 --> 00:22:47,216 ♪ ♪ 485 00:22:47,316 --> 00:22:49,736 TAYLOR: All the biggest brands, they wanna do TikTok 486 00:22:49,839 --> 00:22:51,979 campaigns, because it has the hype right now. 487 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:54,781 TikTok has just really resonated 488 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,342 with this Gen-Z audience, 489 00:22:57,444 --> 00:22:59,264 which is where the most valuable users are. 490 00:22:59,363 --> 00:23:02,065 We have brands poised to spend over $15 billion 491 00:23:02,166 --> 00:23:04,668 in the next year, on influencer marketing alone. 492 00:23:04,767 --> 00:23:08,870 Eyeballs bring money and brands chase the eyeballs. 493 00:23:08,969 --> 00:23:10,390 chase young users. 494 00:23:10,492 --> 00:23:11,831 JIMMY: In less than a year, 495 00:23:11,931 --> 00:23:14,474 you have almost 35 million followers on TikTok. 496 00:23:14,573 --> 00:23:17,716 Over two billion likes... Billion. Wow. 497 00:23:17,815 --> 00:23:19,755 [audience cheering] 498 00:23:19,858 --> 00:23:22,238 TAYLOR: TikTokers, they've embraced that idea of being 499 00:23:22,339 --> 00:23:23,678 the entrepreneur. 500 00:23:23,781 --> 00:23:25,159 They're not just in it to get famous, 501 00:23:25,261 --> 00:23:27,401 they're also in it to get rich and successful. 502 00:23:27,502 --> 00:23:29,523 The social media influencer market 503 00:23:29,621 --> 00:23:31,925 is a multi-billion dollar industry, 504 00:23:32,024 --> 00:23:35,167 and some young people are cashing in big time. 505 00:23:35,265 --> 00:23:36,927 TAYLOR: I mean, these TikTokers are making more 506 00:23:37,027 --> 00:23:39,610 in their first year than a lot of huge YouTubers 507 00:23:39,709 --> 00:23:42,190 have made throughout the entire past decade. 508 00:23:43,630 --> 00:23:45,533 Late 2019 was my first brand deal 509 00:23:45,632 --> 00:23:47,014 and it was for Nike. 510 00:23:47,113 --> 00:23:49,534 When I first told my parents 511 00:23:49,637 --> 00:23:52,056 that I was doing something for Nike, they were like, 512 00:23:52,157 --> 00:23:55,477 "What? Nike? Like Nike?" 513 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,542 The fact that anyone wants to use beatboxing for anything 514 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,185 is the coolest thing on Earth to me. 515 00:24:02,283 --> 00:24:04,864 This is a doll made for Little Caesar's. 516 00:24:04,965 --> 00:24:07,588 Life-size. Even got the hair. 517 00:24:07,687 --> 00:24:09,226 [beatboxing] 518 00:24:09,329 --> 00:24:13,190 I'm a beatboxer, and I'm hanging out 519 00:24:13,291 --> 00:24:18,113 at Jason Derulo's house, like, "How did this happen?" 520 00:24:18,214 --> 00:24:19,514 Like this is dope. 521 00:24:19,614 --> 00:24:23,276 [singing] 522 00:24:23,377 --> 00:24:24,517 [beatboxing] 523 00:24:24,618 --> 00:24:26,879 SPENCER: TikTok has made music more fun. 524 00:24:26,978 --> 00:24:29,399 When we talk about revolutionising, you know, 525 00:24:29,502 --> 00:24:30,522 an industry... 526 00:24:30,620 --> 00:24:31,841 [beatboxing] 527 00:24:31,941 --> 00:24:34,685 ...that has existed for so long by itself... 528 00:24:34,783 --> 00:24:36,004 [beatboxing] 529 00:24:36,104 --> 00:24:38,765 TikTok's taking away that guardian, that little gate. 530 00:24:38,868 --> 00:24:41,007 Now there's so many independent artists, 531 00:24:41,108 --> 00:24:43,850 especially coming from TikTok, that have just, like, 532 00:24:43,948 --> 00:24:46,091 cult following that'll have people that believe 533 00:24:46,190 --> 00:24:48,293 in them, being outside of the industry. 534 00:24:48,392 --> 00:24:50,852 [beatboxing] 535 00:24:50,954 --> 00:24:54,897 It wasn't until I was on TV, when I presented 536 00:24:54,997 --> 00:24:56,177 at the "Billboard Music Awards," 537 00:24:56,274 --> 00:24:58,217 that's when my parents, they were like, 538 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:00,781 "All right, Spencer's on TV now, 539 00:25:00,879 --> 00:25:02,581 I don't know what to do with this information." 540 00:25:02,681 --> 00:25:05,263 [beatboxing] 541 00:25:05,361 --> 00:25:08,264 ♪ ♪ 542 00:25:08,364 --> 00:25:10,186 TAYLOR: TikTok has also completely upended 543 00:25:10,284 --> 00:25:12,148 the talent industry in Hollywood. 544 00:25:12,246 --> 00:25:14,349 Hollywood people love TikTok, because they're like, 545 00:25:14,448 --> 00:25:17,811 "Great, more famous people, more people to make us money." 546 00:25:18,450 --> 00:25:21,233 These TikTokers are launching their own brands. 547 00:25:21,332 --> 00:25:23,234 You have a beauty line coming out, right? 548 00:25:23,332 --> 00:25:24,876 TAYLOR: Think of Addison Rae, right? 549 00:25:24,975 --> 00:25:26,677 She's a hugely popular TikToker. 550 00:25:26,776 --> 00:25:27,917 She launched Item Beauty. 551 00:25:28,015 --> 00:25:30,280 So you see a lot of these young TikTokers 552 00:25:30,379 --> 00:25:34,880 building already multi-million dollar empires. 553 00:25:34,983 --> 00:25:37,082 Someone like Bella Poarch went viral for this, like, 554 00:25:37,184 --> 00:25:38,484 lipsynching video, where she's making 555 00:25:38,582 --> 00:25:39,886 these funny facial expressions. 556 00:25:39,985 --> 00:25:41,005 ♪ It's M to the B, it's M to the B ♪ 557 00:25:41,107 --> 00:25:42,887 ♪ ♪ 558 00:25:42,986 --> 00:25:45,608 TAYLOR: She used that to launch a pop star career. 559 00:25:45,707 --> 00:25:48,930 I mean, she's had several huge hit songs now. 560 00:25:49,031 --> 00:25:51,450 Somebody like Lil Nas X is also a good example, 561 00:25:51,552 --> 00:25:53,412 somebody that really leveraged the internet 562 00:25:53,513 --> 00:25:55,416 to promote his own career. 563 00:25:55,514 --> 00:25:59,736 ♪ Oh, I'm gonna ride 'til I can't no more ♪ 564 00:25:59,838 --> 00:26:01,138 TAYLOR: TikTok defines "Top 40." 565 00:26:01,236 --> 00:26:03,501 If you go to the Trending List 566 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:05,180 on Spotify, the most viral hits, 567 00:26:05,281 --> 00:26:09,142 it's all TikTok songs, and it is a really crazy mix. 568 00:26:09,243 --> 00:26:12,264 We saw Fleetwood Mac "Dreams", you know, resurged, 569 00:26:12,364 --> 00:26:14,225 because of a viral video. 570 00:26:14,325 --> 00:26:16,388 ♪ It's only right ♪ 571 00:26:16,486 --> 00:26:19,109 ♪ That you should play the way... ♪ 572 00:26:19,207 --> 00:26:21,311 TAYLOR: The whole media ecosystem has migrated 573 00:26:21,409 --> 00:26:22,831 towards this personality-driven 574 00:26:22,931 --> 00:26:25,273 form of entertainment, so often people think, 575 00:26:25,371 --> 00:26:26,553 "Oh, I'm on Content Creators, right? 576 00:26:26,655 --> 00:26:28,114 That's some teenager that's dancing". 577 00:26:28,215 --> 00:26:31,637 No! Online influence is influence. 578 00:26:31,736 --> 00:26:34,238 And if you can make an impact online, 579 00:26:34,339 --> 00:26:37,581 you have the ability to reshape the world. 580 00:26:47,306 --> 00:26:49,829 FEROZA: I started realising TikTok had power. 581 00:26:51,669 --> 00:26:53,930 Even if it was for a comedy or makeup. 582 00:26:54,031 --> 00:26:57,152 Whatever I was posting, people wanted to watch it. 583 00:26:58,234 --> 00:27:00,294 And I was, like, "Okay, 584 00:27:00,396 --> 00:27:02,618 so anything's possible on this app." 585 00:27:02,716 --> 00:27:04,898 ♪ ♪ 586 00:27:04,996 --> 00:27:09,140 Anyone can basically go viral on this app. 587 00:27:09,242 --> 00:27:14,744 ♪ ♪ 588 00:27:14,842 --> 00:27:18,348 After joining TikTok, I decided, like, 589 00:27:18,447 --> 00:27:23,031 "Maybe I wanna make more political-savvy videos, 590 00:27:23,129 --> 00:27:26,871 and I got more--more views on that. 591 00:27:26,973 --> 00:27:29,553 Hi, if you, um, actually think all lives matter, 592 00:27:29,655 --> 00:27:31,435 I want you to speak up about the kids in cages 593 00:27:31,534 --> 00:27:32,794 at the border, I want you to speak up 594 00:27:32,897 --> 00:27:34,117 about the kids dying in the Middle East. 595 00:27:34,216 --> 00:27:35,796 I want you to speak out about the child... 596 00:27:35,897 --> 00:27:38,599 I first read about the Uyghurs through social media 597 00:27:38,698 --> 00:27:41,120 since I do follow Muslim pages, 598 00:27:41,222 --> 00:27:43,223 and try to keep up with my community. 599 00:27:43,861 --> 00:27:45,122 NEWSCASTER: Across the Northwestern 600 00:27:45,224 --> 00:27:47,764 province of Xinjiang, an estimated one million 601 00:27:47,864 --> 00:27:50,887 Chinese Muslims have vanished into a vast network 602 00:27:50,986 --> 00:27:54,207 of detention centres that targets Uyghur Muslims. 603 00:27:54,310 --> 00:27:58,091 I saw someone post a picture of these Uyghurs, 604 00:27:58,190 --> 00:28:00,293 Uyghur prisoners, 605 00:28:00,392 --> 00:28:02,293 and when I did more research, I found out 606 00:28:02,393 --> 00:28:04,455 that this genocide is happening in front of us, 607 00:28:04,553 --> 00:28:06,556 and no one is speaking about it. 608 00:28:08,277 --> 00:28:11,479 ♪ Okay, okay... ♪ 609 00:28:12,281 --> 00:28:14,463 It says, "News outlets when innocent Muslims 610 00:28:14,562 --> 00:28:15,661 "are getting murdered every day 611 00:28:15,762 --> 00:28:17,803 in the Middle East and in China." 612 00:28:20,966 --> 00:28:23,427 The next day, after I posted that video, 613 00:28:23,526 --> 00:28:25,389 I--I looked at my feed, 614 00:28:25,488 --> 00:28:27,550 and I saw where the post used to be, 615 00:28:27,649 --> 00:28:30,911 it was no longer the image of my face on there. 616 00:28:31,012 --> 00:28:34,655 It was just a black little box. 617 00:28:36,053 --> 00:28:37,555 When I clicked on it, it just would say, 618 00:28:37,656 --> 00:28:39,657 "Video unavailable." 619 00:28:40,618 --> 00:28:43,879 I was shocked at that time, but once I found out 620 00:28:43,979 --> 00:28:45,762 that TikTok is a Beijing-owned app, 621 00:28:45,860 --> 00:28:48,263 I was no longer shocked. 622 00:28:50,102 --> 00:28:52,524 I found out how TikTok's basically using our data, 623 00:28:52,627 --> 00:28:53,725 using our information, 624 00:28:53,825 --> 00:28:54,765 and using it for their own benefit. 625 00:28:54,868 --> 00:28:56,569 TikTok is a Beijing-owned app. 626 00:28:56,668 --> 00:28:58,889 It has censored videos that are against the CCP. 627 00:28:58,989 --> 00:29:00,571 I don't know about you, guys, but I wanna know 628 00:29:00,669 --> 00:29:02,671 what TikTok's doing with our information. 629 00:29:05,072 --> 00:29:07,294 AI is--is hungry for data, 630 00:29:07,396 --> 00:29:08,815 so the more data you have, 631 00:29:08,916 --> 00:29:10,976 the more accurate the AI becomes, 632 00:29:11,078 --> 00:29:15,379 so in the age of AI, uh, data's the new oil, 633 00:29:15,479 --> 00:29:17,762 and China is the new Saudi Arabia. 634 00:29:19,361 --> 00:29:23,445 SCOTT: Your data is an asset to a lot of companies. 635 00:29:24,485 --> 00:29:27,187 Google and Amazon and Facebook are so big, 636 00:29:27,286 --> 00:29:28,829 and they have so much money because they have 637 00:29:28,927 --> 00:29:30,870 all of your data. 638 00:29:30,969 --> 00:29:33,190 And there's a whole secondary market for data, 639 00:29:33,291 --> 00:29:34,872 called "Data Brokers." 640 00:29:34,973 --> 00:29:36,552 And they're gathering all of this data, 641 00:29:36,652 --> 00:29:38,474 and they're selling it to each other, 642 00:29:38,573 --> 00:29:40,936 and it's really no different than the stock market. 643 00:29:41,617 --> 00:29:44,437 If a company can start gathering that data, 644 00:29:44,537 --> 00:29:46,919 thousands of points of data a day, 645 00:29:47,021 --> 00:29:50,522 from the time someone's five until the time they're 18, 646 00:29:50,622 --> 00:29:52,763 those companies, when they sell that data, 647 00:29:52,861 --> 00:29:55,406 they have a profile that knows a child 648 00:29:55,504 --> 00:29:57,505 way better than a parent would. 649 00:29:58,387 --> 00:30:01,050 And that is extremely valuable to advertisers, 650 00:30:01,149 --> 00:30:03,649 and to people who want to persuade you 651 00:30:03,751 --> 00:30:06,792 to do something you might otherwise not want to do. 652 00:30:10,234 --> 00:30:13,495 If social media is determining and tracking you 653 00:30:13,595 --> 00:30:15,137 in different ways, and--and telling you 654 00:30:15,236 --> 00:30:16,618 what your dreams are going to be, 655 00:30:16,717 --> 00:30:18,620 based on the ads you're getting, 656 00:30:18,719 --> 00:30:22,802 that impacts the kid's brain and it impacts their goals. 657 00:30:24,842 --> 00:30:28,146 There's a lot of harms happening with these companies 658 00:30:28,245 --> 00:30:30,825 that are--are based in Northern California. 659 00:30:30,927 --> 00:30:33,149 What's different about TikTok is, 660 00:30:33,248 --> 00:30:35,251 where is this data going? 661 00:30:36,450 --> 00:30:38,149 NEWSCASTER: TikTok is reportedly 662 00:30:38,252 --> 00:30:40,033 under federal investigation. 663 00:30:40,132 --> 00:30:42,033 The US Government reportedly launching 664 00:30:42,133 --> 00:30:44,315 a national security review of the company's 665 00:30:44,416 --> 00:30:47,316 data collection, and censorship practices, 666 00:30:47,417 --> 00:30:49,758 amid concerns that users personal data 667 00:30:49,859 --> 00:30:52,453 could be accessible to foreign governments. 668 00:30:52,463 --> 00:30:55,004 there's very little transparency, 669 00:30:55,102 --> 00:30:57,802 just because a tech company says something... 670 00:30:57,906 --> 00:30:59,446 and I'm not just talking about TikTok. 671 00:30:59,544 --> 00:31:02,547 We don't have to take the tech company at its word. 672 00:31:03,707 --> 00:31:05,771 And I think Facebook is somewhat scared 673 00:31:05,870 --> 00:31:08,890 of the quick rise of TikTok, because all that data 674 00:31:08,993 --> 00:31:12,636 that Facebook was getting is now going to TikTok. 675 00:31:18,358 --> 00:31:19,899 The Chinese, one of the few markets where Facebook 676 00:31:19,998 --> 00:31:22,620 is unavailable right now, because of government censors... 677 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:24,223 While Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, 678 00:31:24,322 --> 00:31:27,582 appears to be trying bit by bit to reenter the world's 679 00:31:27,685 --> 00:31:30,745 largest internet population, China. 680 00:31:30,845 --> 00:31:32,187 SHELLY: Facebook was probably 681 00:31:32,286 --> 00:31:34,349 the most aggressive social media company 682 00:31:34,447 --> 00:31:36,268 to try to get into China, 683 00:31:36,369 --> 00:31:39,232 because social media in China had been blocked 684 00:31:39,331 --> 00:31:41,149 for a number of years. 685 00:31:41,252 --> 00:31:42,915 ♪ ♪ 686 00:31:43,014 --> 00:31:44,754 Mark Zuckerberg is trying to find a way 687 00:31:44,854 --> 00:31:46,676 that they could exist somehow in China. 688 00:31:46,774 --> 00:31:49,579 And so he learned Mandarin. 689 00:31:57,743 --> 00:32:00,244 He went to a number of conferences, 690 00:32:00,342 --> 00:32:03,367 where he could put himself in front of Xi Jinping, 691 00:32:03,466 --> 00:32:05,589 and speak to Xi Jinping directly. 692 00:32:05,986 --> 00:32:09,169 And he really was aggressive in saying, you know, 693 00:32:09,271 --> 00:32:10,732 "This is a huge market. 694 00:32:10,831 --> 00:32:13,974 "How can we be this global connector 695 00:32:14,072 --> 00:32:17,235 for the world and not have China be part of it?" 696 00:32:18,637 --> 00:32:21,777 But it became clear to him in the last few years 697 00:32:21,878 --> 00:32:24,300 that it's not going to work. 698 00:32:24,399 --> 00:32:28,463 And so he completely changed, he completely had a 180 699 00:32:28,562 --> 00:32:30,984 and he went, uh, on the offensive. 700 00:32:31,082 --> 00:32:34,147 A decade ago, almost all of the major internet platforms 701 00:32:34,245 --> 00:32:35,265 were American. 702 00:32:35,367 --> 00:32:39,427 Today, six of the top ten are Chinese. 703 00:32:39,530 --> 00:32:41,751 He realised that, "If I can't win over 704 00:32:41,850 --> 00:32:44,473 "the Chinese market, then I'm gonna make it harder for them 705 00:32:44,572 --> 00:32:46,652 to win over my market in the US." 706 00:32:47,533 --> 00:32:49,916 NEWSCASTER: Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly called TikTok 707 00:32:50,015 --> 00:32:52,236 "A threat to democracy." 708 00:32:52,338 --> 00:32:54,559 What the Facebook CEO failed to mention 709 00:32:54,658 --> 00:32:57,399 is that he tried to purchase TikTok's predecesor, 710 00:32:57,501 --> 00:32:58,960 Musical.ly. 711 00:32:59,061 --> 00:33:02,402 MAN: Zuckerberg's clearly very concerned about TikTok, 712 00:33:02,503 --> 00:33:05,323 because it's the most genuine new competition 713 00:33:05,425 --> 00:33:07,868 he's received for a long time. 714 00:33:09,868 --> 00:33:13,688 I remember when Facebook was the number one place on Earth. 715 00:33:13,791 --> 00:33:15,210 My grandmother doesn't even use Facebook. 716 00:33:15,311 --> 00:33:16,213 She's too cool. 717 00:33:16,312 --> 00:33:18,312 No, I'm kidding. 718 00:33:21,354 --> 00:33:23,055 I posted a prank on my page, 719 00:33:23,156 --> 00:33:25,496 and it has like three million views right now. 720 00:33:25,599 --> 00:33:28,139 [imitates buzzing sound] 721 00:33:28,238 --> 00:33:31,380 - Oh! - You know what? 722 00:33:31,483 --> 00:33:32,581 Uh-huh. 723 00:33:32,681 --> 00:33:35,185 Come here. Yeah, yeah. Mm... 724 00:33:35,283 --> 00:33:37,284 - [screams] - [laughs] 725 00:33:37,604 --> 00:33:40,588 SPENCER: I think it's all about how creative you are. 726 00:33:40,687 --> 00:33:44,188 I mean, that's what TikTok has taught me. 727 00:33:44,291 --> 00:33:46,291 Eh! 728 00:33:49,493 --> 00:33:53,175 [beatboxing] 729 00:33:55,897 --> 00:33:57,476 - That was good. - I like that one. 730 00:33:57,579 --> 00:33:59,839 Content's easy with you, Merrick. 731 00:33:59,938 --> 00:34:02,360 My name is Merrick Hanna. I am 16 years old. 732 00:34:02,460 --> 00:34:05,642 [beatboxing] 733 00:34:05,742 --> 00:34:07,764 When people think of influencers... 734 00:34:07,864 --> 00:34:11,346 I think they think it's very leisurely. It's not. 735 00:34:13,587 --> 00:34:17,191 [beatboxing] 736 00:34:18,751 --> 00:34:20,332 - It's fast. - Is that how it goes? 737 00:34:20,432 --> 00:34:21,932 - Yeah, it's that fast. - Why is it so fast? 738 00:34:22,033 --> 00:34:24,175 - 'Cause it loops. - Ah. 739 00:34:24,276 --> 00:34:26,017 Yeah, so it seems like it's longer when you watch it. 740 00:34:26,115 --> 00:34:27,337 I don't think it needs to be quite as fast 741 00:34:27,438 --> 00:34:28,697 as you're suggesting. 742 00:34:28,798 --> 00:34:30,979 Try to make it longer, you're rushing so much. 743 00:34:31,078 --> 00:34:33,459 To manage Merrick's career at this point, 744 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:37,823 is definitely a full time job, on top of my full time job. 745 00:34:37,923 --> 00:34:40,786 Reading all the emails for him, reading the contracts, 746 00:34:40,885 --> 00:34:43,627 reading offers, replying, the back and forth... 747 00:34:43,728 --> 00:34:45,587 My dad helps a lot with finding ideas, 748 00:34:45,688 --> 00:34:47,149 because that is a big part of it. 749 00:34:47,249 --> 00:34:49,270 He'll find a trend that he thinks I can do, 750 00:34:49,371 --> 00:34:50,511 he'll show it to me, and I'll be like, 751 00:34:50,612 --> 00:34:52,151 "All right, I know how to do it." 752 00:34:52,252 --> 00:34:54,795 Hit, hit, hit. Now push back. 753 00:34:54,894 --> 00:34:56,036 Even though it may not seem like it, 754 00:34:56,135 --> 00:34:57,435 he does a lot of the work. 755 00:34:57,536 --> 00:35:00,457 I--I don't sleep quite as much as I used to. 756 00:35:03,019 --> 00:35:06,341 [beatboxing] 757 00:35:09,743 --> 00:35:11,285 SHAWN: It's like a gold rush. 758 00:35:11,383 --> 00:35:13,484 Brands wisely are now seeing 759 00:35:13,584 --> 00:35:16,048 that you can pinpoint an audience 760 00:35:16,145 --> 00:35:18,288 better, probably, through social media, 761 00:35:18,389 --> 00:35:19,769 and TikTok especially, 762 00:35:19,868 --> 00:35:23,412 than a lot of traditional means of advertising, 763 00:35:23,511 --> 00:35:25,453 and then, there's a lot of people who's trying 764 00:35:25,554 --> 00:35:26,694 to take advantage of the gold rush, 765 00:35:26,795 --> 00:35:28,456 who just shouldn't be, who are incompetent, 766 00:35:28,555 --> 00:35:31,776 but a lot of the influencers are young and inexperienced, 767 00:35:31,877 --> 00:35:34,459 - and don't know better. - Right. 768 00:35:34,559 --> 00:35:37,380 I think that having a parent filter social media messages 769 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:39,742 is critical parent involvement, 770 00:35:39,843 --> 00:35:41,703 if you wanna keep an eye 771 00:35:41,804 --> 00:35:43,505 - on your child-- - It's very important. 772 00:35:43,604 --> 00:35:45,546 Yeah. 773 00:35:45,645 --> 00:35:47,987 ♪ Inferno ♪ 774 00:35:48,087 --> 00:35:50,709 ♪ Baby, I'm the reason why bad's so fun ♪ 775 00:35:50,809 --> 00:35:53,511 NEWSCASTER: "A third of TikTok's US users 776 00:35:53,612 --> 00:35:58,334 may be 14 or under, raising safety questions." 777 00:35:58,974 --> 00:36:01,676 An extremely popular video app that was called Musical.ly 778 00:36:01,776 --> 00:36:03,877 is now called TikTok, has agreed to pay 779 00:36:03,978 --> 00:36:06,200 millions of dollars in fines for illegally collecting 780 00:36:06,298 --> 00:36:08,038 personal information from children. 781 00:36:08,140 --> 00:36:14,063 ♪ ♪ 782 00:36:14,423 --> 00:36:16,365 Hey, Carter. 783 00:36:16,465 --> 00:36:19,207 These companies are preying on children. 784 00:36:19,307 --> 00:36:22,328 SCOTT: TikTok is amassing a profile on them, 785 00:36:22,429 --> 00:36:25,730 so that they can be targeted by advertisers. 786 00:36:25,831 --> 00:36:28,011 They can push ideas to that child, 787 00:36:28,112 --> 00:36:29,334 and that is dangerous. 788 00:36:29,432 --> 00:36:31,855 ♪ ♪ 789 00:36:31,956 --> 00:36:35,737 One of the unique features of TikTok 790 00:36:35,837 --> 00:36:38,017 is that a child could post a video, 791 00:36:38,118 --> 00:36:41,501 uh, dancing and having fun, uh, and there's a feature 792 00:36:41,602 --> 00:36:44,103 on it called "Duets", where you have children 793 00:36:44,202 --> 00:36:46,505 posting their own videos and then you just have 794 00:36:46,604 --> 00:36:48,305 these older men staring at them. 795 00:36:48,404 --> 00:36:51,267 ♪ Good morning, beautiful ♪ 796 00:36:51,367 --> 00:36:53,868 ♪ How was your night? ♪ 797 00:36:53,969 --> 00:36:56,230 SCOTT: While these older men doing... you know, 798 00:36:56,331 --> 00:36:59,392 just part of "I wanna be in a duet with you." 799 00:36:59,492 --> 00:37:02,834 We have one where the girl went to kiss her camera 800 00:37:02,934 --> 00:37:05,596 at the same time one of these older men kisses his camera, 801 00:37:05,697 --> 00:37:09,238 so it looks like you're having an older man making out 802 00:37:09,337 --> 00:37:11,319 with-with a young girl. 803 00:37:11,420 --> 00:37:13,602 These people are seeing your children. 804 00:37:13,700 --> 00:37:17,084 And they could contact them through the TikTok app. 805 00:37:17,182 --> 00:37:19,564 There were child predators before social media, 806 00:37:19,663 --> 00:37:21,404 but they didn't have direct access 807 00:37:21,506 --> 00:37:24,247 to your child's inbox. 808 00:37:24,346 --> 00:37:25,728 ♪ Walk up in dat bit' too clean, I' froze ♪ 809 00:37:25,828 --> 00:37:27,209 ♪ They don’t fight you where I' from ♪ 810 00:37:27,309 --> 00:37:28,730 ♪ Like the beat, I keep a drum ♪ 811 00:37:28,831 --> 00:37:30,051 ♪ You ain't got dough, lil' boy ♪ 812 00:37:30,151 --> 00:37:31,532 I'm involved in working on litigation 813 00:37:31,633 --> 00:37:35,014 against TikTok, and my son is up in his bedroom, 814 00:37:35,115 --> 00:37:38,496 you know, doing livestream on TikTok, it turned out. 815 00:37:38,596 --> 00:37:40,499 So, like, the work I do, is that--is that ever 816 00:37:40,596 --> 00:37:42,899 on the back of your mind, like, "I'm using all these apps, 817 00:37:42,999 --> 00:37:45,901 "and my dad has these lawsuits against these companies 818 00:37:46,001 --> 00:37:47,822 for data and protecting people..." 819 00:37:47,923 --> 00:37:49,462 Like, do you think about that? 820 00:37:49,563 --> 00:37:51,904 No. I just think about it 'cause you come home 821 00:37:52,005 --> 00:37:53,185 and tell me about all that stuff, 822 00:37:53,286 --> 00:37:55,707 and then I'm like, technology is like someone 823 00:37:55,807 --> 00:37:59,630 my age is, like, so essential to everything 824 00:37:59,730 --> 00:38:01,671 I do that it's, like, I kind of have to live 825 00:38:01,770 --> 00:38:04,712 with the fact that there's gonna be people that are profiting 826 00:38:04,813 --> 00:38:09,435 off my data, and I have no real recourse for that. 827 00:38:09,536 --> 00:38:12,117 What's more concerning is, like, the--the accuracy 828 00:38:12,218 --> 00:38:14,559 of the algorithm, like, I could be talking 829 00:38:14,660 --> 00:38:17,642 about a movie and then later that day, 830 00:38:17,740 --> 00:38:20,603 that movie, like, shows up on my feed. 831 00:38:20,703 --> 00:38:22,285 And you're just talking randomly to somebody 832 00:38:22,383 --> 00:38:23,765 - about the movie? - That happens, like... 833 00:38:23,865 --> 00:38:26,526 way more often than I'm comfortable with. 834 00:38:26,626 --> 00:38:27,926 And that doesn't freak you out? 835 00:38:28,026 --> 00:38:29,969 Oh, it does, to some degree, but, like, I guess 836 00:38:30,069 --> 00:38:31,087 I'm used to it at this point, 837 00:38:31,189 --> 00:38:32,970 like it happens so much. 838 00:38:33,069 --> 00:38:34,813 ♪ ♪ 839 00:38:34,912 --> 00:38:36,892 I am on the frontlines 840 00:38:36,993 --> 00:38:39,173 of fighting privacy battles for children. 841 00:38:39,274 --> 00:38:43,017 And my kids know that's what I do, 842 00:38:43,117 --> 00:38:45,618 but they're on the app, 843 00:38:45,719 --> 00:38:48,819 so it's a fight you fight, but it's a difficult fight 844 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:50,582 to win with your kids. 845 00:38:50,682 --> 00:38:53,883 You can only do so much, and these companies know that. 846 00:38:54,604 --> 00:38:57,386 If there's no regulation of it, you, as a parent, 847 00:38:57,487 --> 00:38:59,145 you don't have any control 848 00:38:59,247 --> 00:39:01,990 over what's being pushed to these kids. 849 00:39:02,087 --> 00:39:06,112 ♪ ♪ 850 00:39:06,211 --> 00:39:09,353 AVRIEL: Gen-Z is a unique generation. 851 00:39:09,453 --> 00:39:11,395 To be a digital native is to be someone 852 00:39:11,496 --> 00:39:15,718 who doesn't know a world without the internet. 853 00:39:15,816 --> 00:39:17,758 Teenagers are in a really sensitive point 854 00:39:17,859 --> 00:39:19,359 in their development, 855 00:39:19,459 --> 00:39:22,121 both in terms of how their brains are rewiring, 856 00:39:22,221 --> 00:39:25,642 and in terms of how they're making sense of themselves 857 00:39:25,743 --> 00:39:27,746 and their place in the world. 858 00:39:28,706 --> 00:39:30,807 What ends up happening is that the algorithms 859 00:39:30,907 --> 00:39:33,889 themselves end up shaping the development 860 00:39:33,990 --> 00:39:35,850 of teenagers on these apps, 861 00:39:35,950 --> 00:39:40,712 in ways that we don't understand at all. 862 00:39:42,755 --> 00:39:45,935 With any recommendation algorithm, you run the risk 863 00:39:46,036 --> 00:39:50,139 of individuals who look similar to each other, 864 00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:53,261 in terms of their activity, getting pushed closer 865 00:39:53,362 --> 00:39:55,742 and closer and closer together in terms of content 866 00:39:55,843 --> 00:39:57,584 that they're being recommended, 867 00:39:57,682 --> 00:39:59,706 and whatever information is gonna confirm 868 00:39:59,805 --> 00:40:01,586 your preexisting beliefs. 869 00:40:01,685 --> 00:40:03,307 ♪ ♪ 870 00:40:03,407 --> 00:40:07,149 By not allowing people from diverse perspectives 871 00:40:07,249 --> 00:40:09,432 to come into contact with each other... 872 00:40:09,529 --> 00:40:12,913 it lessens their ability for empathy. 873 00:40:13,014 --> 00:40:18,917 The algorithms are reinforcing social disparities. 874 00:40:19,017 --> 00:40:20,318 It's not just TikTok. 875 00:40:20,417 --> 00:40:24,441 It is the technology that TikTok relies on, 876 00:40:24,538 --> 00:40:29,403 but recommendation algorithms have infiltrated 877 00:40:29,502 --> 00:40:31,404 all aspects of our society. 878 00:40:31,505 --> 00:40:33,006 ♪ ♪ 879 00:40:33,105 --> 00:40:36,969 Humans are relying on recommendation systems 880 00:40:37,068 --> 00:40:40,590 to tell them what decisions to make. 881 00:40:41,029 --> 00:40:45,292 And they are determining our futures moment by moment, 882 00:40:45,392 --> 00:40:48,154 in ways that we have very little control. 883 00:40:51,438 --> 00:40:53,139 If we fail to regulate social media 884 00:40:53,238 --> 00:40:56,538 and the impact that it's having on this generation, 885 00:40:56,640 --> 00:41:01,344 we're gonna see a lot of marginalised teenagers 886 00:41:01,443 --> 00:41:04,305 experiencing harms that none of us 887 00:41:04,404 --> 00:41:06,066 had the experience and that none of us 888 00:41:06,166 --> 00:41:08,328 are prepared to help them navigate. 889 00:41:09,809 --> 00:41:15,853 ♪ ♪ 890 00:41:17,535 --> 00:41:18,874 DEJA: I've been in the spotlight 891 00:41:18,974 --> 00:41:20,355 since I was 16. 892 00:41:20,456 --> 00:41:23,596 And it is exhausting. 893 00:41:23,697 --> 00:41:26,118 There's definitely this tension, uh, always 894 00:41:26,219 --> 00:41:27,920 between produce, produce, produce, 895 00:41:28,020 --> 00:41:29,200 stay relevant, 896 00:41:29,301 --> 00:41:31,480 and produce things that you're going to be 897 00:41:31,582 --> 00:41:32,923 proud of in ten years, 898 00:41:33,023 --> 00:41:35,045 and they don't always go together. 899 00:41:35,145 --> 00:41:36,886 They can't. 900 00:41:36,987 --> 00:41:41,849 And... I think it leads me to question now, 901 00:41:41,950 --> 00:41:43,010 "Am I doing the right thing? 902 00:41:43,109 --> 00:41:45,572 Did I make the right choices?" 903 00:41:45,671 --> 00:41:48,653 ♪ ♪ 904 00:41:48,752 --> 00:41:50,774 I was raised by a single mom, 905 00:41:50,874 --> 00:41:55,298 and I grew up in a household that, like many, 906 00:41:55,395 --> 00:41:58,019 couldn't afford the basics. 907 00:41:58,118 --> 00:42:03,823 Probably the hardest time was when my mom started 908 00:42:03,923 --> 00:42:05,865 to decline into substance abuse. 909 00:42:05,962 --> 00:42:08,066 ♪ ♪ 910 00:42:08,663 --> 00:42:11,367 When I was 15, I walked out of my mom's house, 911 00:42:11,468 --> 00:42:14,630 because I couldn't get what I needed there. 912 00:42:15,269 --> 00:42:16,609 And so, for me, that looked 913 00:42:16,709 --> 00:42:18,011 like living at a friend's house, 914 00:42:18,112 --> 00:42:20,432 until I graduated and moved to college. 915 00:42:21,471 --> 00:42:23,615 I was seeing a therapist at Columbia 916 00:42:23,715 --> 00:42:25,654 for the first time ever, and I, like, 917 00:42:25,756 --> 00:42:27,978 went into her office and I was shaking 918 00:42:28,077 --> 00:42:29,538 and crying and she couldn't understand, 919 00:42:29,639 --> 00:42:31,298 and then she was telling me, "You know, 920 00:42:31,399 --> 00:42:34,421 why don't you just delete your social media?" 921 00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:36,983 I was like, "What you don't understand 922 00:42:37,084 --> 00:42:38,545 "is that I can't delete these accounts, 923 00:42:38,644 --> 00:42:41,666 "because they are what keeps me financially stable. 924 00:42:41,767 --> 00:42:44,429 "I pay all of my own bills, 925 00:42:44,528 --> 00:42:46,303 and then, additionally, I pay my mom's bills." 926 00:42:46,313 --> 00:42:49,127 And monetising on social media's given me 927 00:42:49,230 --> 00:42:52,109 the opportunity to do that." 928 00:42:52,752 --> 00:42:56,934 When I'm being abused or harassed online, 929 00:42:57,035 --> 00:43:00,277 it's almost impossible for me to step away. 930 00:43:00,377 --> 00:43:02,317 And it's kind of like an abusive relationship 931 00:43:02,418 --> 00:43:03,439 in that regard. 932 00:43:03,540 --> 00:43:05,841 I have to open myself up to this hate, 933 00:43:05,942 --> 00:43:09,024 because this is what creates financial stability for me. 934 00:43:13,265 --> 00:43:18,447 What starts out as just a place to be creative, 935 00:43:18,548 --> 00:43:19,968 and express yourself, 936 00:43:20,069 --> 00:43:24,050 becomes this rat race for attention. 937 00:43:24,151 --> 00:43:26,093 And this need to constantly chase 938 00:43:26,193 --> 00:43:27,892 a like count, follow accounts, 939 00:43:27,993 --> 00:43:28,892 and view counts. 940 00:43:28,993 --> 00:43:30,855 A need to constantly perform 941 00:43:30,956 --> 00:43:33,077 in a way that can really break people down. 942 00:43:34,078 --> 00:43:37,618 Social media influencer was the fourth highest 943 00:43:37,720 --> 00:43:42,142 aspiration among elementary school students. 944 00:43:42,243 --> 00:43:45,184 On the outside, the life of influencers 945 00:43:45,285 --> 00:43:48,267 looks really fun and glamorous. 946 00:43:48,367 --> 00:43:50,825 On the inside, a lot of those influencers, 947 00:43:50,926 --> 00:43:53,550 in addition to getting some external validation, 948 00:43:53,651 --> 00:43:56,990 they're getting a lot of harassment and hate. 949 00:43:57,091 --> 00:44:01,035 They have to perform happiness all of the time. 950 00:44:01,135 --> 00:44:04,715 Many of them are struggling with depression, 951 00:44:04,816 --> 00:44:07,599 anxiety, burnout, 952 00:44:07,700 --> 00:44:12,462 and that is having very real-world consequences. 953 00:44:13,502 --> 00:44:16,563 So that algorithm that's always trying to figure out 954 00:44:16,663 --> 00:44:18,566 what the hottest trends are, 955 00:44:18,666 --> 00:44:20,605 is constantly lifting something up 956 00:44:20,707 --> 00:44:22,407 to the stratosphere, and then taking it 957 00:44:22,508 --> 00:44:23,889 back down again. 958 00:44:23,990 --> 00:44:25,767 To me, this is bigger than TikTok. 959 00:44:25,868 --> 00:44:28,852 It's about who in our society gets heard, 960 00:44:28,952 --> 00:44:31,675 and what you have to do in our society to get heard. 961 00:44:37,716 --> 00:44:40,337 ♪ ♪ 962 00:44:40,439 --> 00:44:42,340 FEROZA: After my first video about the Uyghurs 963 00:44:42,441 --> 00:44:46,060 was taken down, I knew I had to disguise my video, 964 00:44:46,163 --> 00:44:48,584 so I grabbed my pink eyelash curler, 965 00:44:48,684 --> 00:44:51,825 and I started curling my lashes. 966 00:44:51,926 --> 00:44:53,867 This is the one that started it all. 967 00:44:53,968 --> 00:44:55,148 Hi, guys, I'm gonna teach you, guys, 968 00:44:55,249 --> 00:44:56,831 how to get long lashes, 969 00:44:56,930 --> 00:44:58,432 so the first thing you need to do 970 00:44:58,532 --> 00:45:00,709 is grab your lash curler, curl your lashes, obviously, 971 00:45:00,810 --> 00:45:02,191 then you're gonna put them down 972 00:45:02,292 --> 00:45:03,792 and use your phone that you're using right now 973 00:45:03,894 --> 00:45:05,675 to search up what's happening in China, 974 00:45:05,776 --> 00:45:07,355 how they're getting concentration camps, 975 00:45:07,456 --> 00:45:09,075 throwing innocent Muslims in there, 976 00:45:09,176 --> 00:45:10,718 separating their families from each other, 977 00:45:10,818 --> 00:45:12,599 kidnapping them, murdering them, 978 00:45:12,700 --> 00:45:14,038 raping them, forcing them... 979 00:45:14,140 --> 00:45:16,682 I spoke about that in just, like, 40 seconds, 980 00:45:16,782 --> 00:45:19,200 and I continued on doing the eyelash tutorial. 981 00:45:19,301 --> 00:45:20,401 ...this is another Holocaust, 982 00:45:20,502 --> 00:45:22,124 yet no one is talking about it. 983 00:45:22,225 --> 00:45:26,166 Please, be aware. Please, spread awareness. 984 00:45:26,267 --> 00:45:29,249 And... yeah, so you can grab your lash curler again... 985 00:45:29,350 --> 00:45:32,331 It reached millions, it reached millions, and... 986 00:45:32,432 --> 00:45:33,532 people were... 987 00:45:33,633 --> 00:45:35,675 People were shocked in the comments. 988 00:45:37,276 --> 00:45:39,334 You popped up in my "For You" page and I was like, 989 00:45:39,435 --> 00:45:40,496 "Oh, my God, that's Feroza. 990 00:45:40,596 --> 00:45:42,258 I was, like, "I sent this to her," 991 00:45:42,358 --> 00:45:44,017 and I was like, "Why are you on my 'For You' page? 992 00:45:44,118 --> 00:45:46,618 And why do you have, like, so many likes?" It was like crazy. 993 00:45:46,721 --> 00:45:48,383 I had to tell my mom right after that. 994 00:45:48,483 --> 00:45:49,941 I was like, "Ugh, people are sending it now. 995 00:45:50,042 --> 00:45:52,264 I should tell my mom I have TikTok." 996 00:45:52,365 --> 00:45:54,825 My mom, like, we were watching the news, 997 00:45:54,926 --> 00:45:56,706 and she's like, "Is that Feroza?" 998 00:45:56,807 --> 00:45:58,468 I was like, "Oh, my Gosh. 999 00:45:58,568 --> 00:45:59,825 Yes, it's my friend". 1000 00:45:59,926 --> 00:46:01,389 ♪ ♪ 1001 00:46:01,490 --> 00:46:04,871 A 40-second video going viral in just one day. 1002 00:46:04,971 --> 00:46:07,814 That's, like, the power that TikTok holds. 1003 00:46:09,135 --> 00:46:11,675 So I decided to post two more videos, uh, 1004 00:46:11,776 --> 00:46:14,398 the following two days, to just post more information 1005 00:46:14,499 --> 00:46:15,917 on how to help. 1006 00:46:16,019 --> 00:46:17,001 Hey, guys, you wanted a second part to the video 1007 00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:19,940 on how to get longer lashes, so here it is. 1008 00:46:20,041 --> 00:46:21,323 And, by the way, I say that so TikTok 1009 00:46:21,419 --> 00:46:22,763 doesn't take down my videos. 1010 00:46:22,861 --> 00:46:26,685 I don't think TikTok noticed what I posted at first, 1011 00:46:26,785 --> 00:46:28,486 and then the following day, 1012 00:46:28,587 --> 00:46:30,848 it was like a Monday, I wake up at 5:00 am 1013 00:46:30,948 --> 00:46:34,571 for school, and I go on TikTok to see how many views 1014 00:46:34,669 --> 00:46:36,091 the next two videos got, 1015 00:46:36,192 --> 00:46:39,493 and I see that I can't even go on TikTok. 1016 00:46:39,593 --> 00:46:41,593 My--my account's suspended. 1017 00:46:42,957 --> 00:46:45,497 "Your account is temporarily suspended 1018 00:46:45,598 --> 00:46:48,477 because it goes against community guidelines." 1019 00:46:49,759 --> 00:46:52,783 Nothing from my posts violates community guidelines. 1020 00:46:52,881 --> 00:46:56,745 I show nothing of hate speech, I show no profanity, 1021 00:46:56,843 --> 00:47:00,448 everything I spoke about was factual evidence. 1022 00:47:01,087 --> 00:47:03,986 My first thought after seeing this black screen 1023 00:47:04,089 --> 00:47:07,750 on my phone was, "I'm not letting them silence me." 1024 00:47:07,852 --> 00:47:10,093 I--I quickly made a Twitter account. 1025 00:47:10,194 --> 00:47:14,974 I quickly posted on Instagram that, "Hey, I was silenced 1026 00:47:15,075 --> 00:47:16,615 for speaking up", 1027 00:47:16,715 --> 00:47:18,720 and I'm not gonna let them get away with that. 1028 00:47:19,639 --> 00:47:22,122 And I asked people to continue sharing the video. 1029 00:47:23,561 --> 00:47:26,503 I'm so grateful that people heard me 1030 00:47:26,604 --> 00:47:29,666 saying that my voice was taken away. 1031 00:47:29,764 --> 00:47:31,347 17-year-old Feroza Aziz... 1032 00:47:32,887 --> 00:47:35,430 NEWSCASTER: Joining us now is Feroza Aziz... 1033 00:47:35,530 --> 00:47:38,349 FEROZA: In less than a few days, I was on Al-Jazeera, 1034 00:47:38,450 --> 00:47:40,311 BBC, CNN... 1035 00:47:40,412 --> 00:47:44,555 More than 1.5 million people watched it just on TikTok. 1036 00:47:44,655 --> 00:47:46,396 What kind of responses have you had? 1037 00:47:46,497 --> 00:47:48,597 Just from regular people... 1038 00:47:48,697 --> 00:47:51,119 Half of them is positive, and the other half 1039 00:47:51,219 --> 00:47:53,320 is, "Well, I don't know this is happening. 1040 00:47:53,420 --> 00:47:54,722 "Why am I hearing this on TikTok 1041 00:47:54,820 --> 00:47:56,563 and why not on the news?" 1042 00:47:56,661 --> 00:47:59,405 I did, uhm, feel a little bit upset, though, 1043 00:47:59,505 --> 00:48:01,686 because I thought, as if more attention was brought 1044 00:48:01,786 --> 00:48:04,487 to me being silenced than to what I was actually 1045 00:48:04,588 --> 00:48:05,527 speaking about. 1046 00:48:05,628 --> 00:48:07,728 I remember seeing headlines saying, 1047 00:48:07,829 --> 00:48:10,731 "Oh, Beijing-owned app takes down video." 1048 00:48:10,831 --> 00:48:14,313 And not, "Oh, like, there's a Uyghur genocide happening." 1049 00:48:16,353 --> 00:48:18,896 I felt very overwhelmed with the news coverage. 1050 00:48:18,996 --> 00:48:21,097 One of my idols-- I have, like, her picture 1051 00:48:21,197 --> 00:48:25,661 on my wall, mm, AOC retweeted an article of me. 1052 00:48:25,760 --> 00:48:26,940 ♪ ♪ 1053 00:48:27,041 --> 00:48:29,583 I didn't expect, uhm, politicians from China 1054 00:48:29,681 --> 00:48:30,945 to even comment on it. 1055 00:48:31,045 --> 00:48:33,465 China's Prime Ministry said it had no specifics 1056 00:48:33,565 --> 00:48:35,565 of this case. 1057 00:48:36,806 --> 00:48:38,869 You saying the content is still on the TikTok account? 1058 00:48:38,969 --> 00:48:40,550 I'm not aware of the situation. 1059 00:48:40,650 --> 00:48:41,789 How could I know what's happening 1060 00:48:41,889 --> 00:48:43,590 on the account of one individual? 1061 00:48:43,690 --> 00:48:45,753 I thought I had the freedom of speech, 1062 00:48:45,853 --> 00:48:49,436 but I guess... under TikTok that's not possible 1063 00:48:49,536 --> 00:48:51,797 for me to have that right. 1064 00:48:51,896 --> 00:48:57,521 ♪ ♪ 1065 00:48:57,621 --> 00:49:00,762 DAVID POLGAR: Content moderation is a process 1066 00:49:00,862 --> 00:49:02,523 of determining what's appropriate 1067 00:49:02,623 --> 00:49:05,686 and what's not appropriate online. 1068 00:49:05,786 --> 00:49:08,887 One of the natural tensions becomes if you have 1069 00:49:08,987 --> 00:49:12,248 a company but it's all throughout the globe, 1070 00:49:12,349 --> 00:49:15,952 do you adjust to the cultural norms of another country? 1071 00:49:17,072 --> 00:49:19,773 And a lot of people, when on Facebook or TikTok 1072 00:49:19,873 --> 00:49:23,056 or Instagram, they talk about it by using concepts 1073 00:49:23,155 --> 00:49:24,657 like freedom of speech, 1074 00:49:24,757 --> 00:49:29,661 because all throughout society, specifically American society, 1075 00:49:29,760 --> 00:49:32,422 we have debated. 1076 00:49:32,521 --> 00:49:34,905 What's appropriate? How you balance 1077 00:49:35,005 --> 00:49:37,746 individual autonomy and expression 1078 00:49:37,844 --> 00:49:39,224 with the societal impact? 1079 00:49:39,324 --> 00:49:42,789 That used to reside in governmental bodies. 1080 00:49:42,889 --> 00:49:46,030 ♪ ♪ 1081 00:49:46,130 --> 00:49:48,472 With social media, the power 1082 00:49:48,572 --> 00:49:49,791 of determining speech 1083 00:49:49,893 --> 00:49:52,755 has been far too consolidated. 1084 00:49:52,856 --> 00:49:55,237 Major tech companies... if they have the power 1085 00:49:55,335 --> 00:49:58,398 of deciding what's okay and what's not okay 1086 00:49:58,498 --> 00:50:01,239 with what I say, if they have the power 1087 00:50:01,340 --> 00:50:03,081 to deplatform. 1088 00:50:03,181 --> 00:50:07,045 That puts a tremendous level of power 1089 00:50:07,143 --> 00:50:09,364 in an unelected official. 1090 00:50:09,465 --> 00:50:10,925 That's antidemocratic. 1091 00:50:11,027 --> 00:50:14,728 ♪ ♪ 1092 00:50:14,829 --> 00:50:16,329 I mean, the think about TikTok is 1093 00:50:16,429 --> 00:50:18,251 it's, so it's--it's Chinese-owned, 1094 00:50:18,349 --> 00:50:21,172 or just that, owners, they don't control it. 1095 00:50:21,273 --> 00:50:25,295 In fact, TikTok takes a much, much stronger attitude 1096 00:50:25,396 --> 00:50:27,617 against the sort of content that... 1097 00:50:27,715 --> 00:50:29,018 well, that the Chinese government 1098 00:50:29,119 --> 00:50:31,119 wouldn't like to see on a social media app. 1099 00:50:31,757 --> 00:50:33,780 There's no orders coming down from up high, 1100 00:50:33,880 --> 00:50:37,943 it's just the understanding that you will do what Beijing 1101 00:50:38,041 --> 00:50:40,304 wants and you'll try and guess what they want 1102 00:50:40,405 --> 00:50:42,425 and do it without being asked. 1103 00:50:42,527 --> 00:50:48,530 ♪ ♪ 1104 00:50:52,853 --> 00:50:55,474 You know, I might--I might go livestream 1105 00:50:55,574 --> 00:50:57,514 on Duoyin a little bit. 1106 00:50:57,614 --> 00:50:58,876 That's what's high on Duoyin. 1107 00:50:58,974 --> 00:51:00,237 But... 1108 00:51:00,338 --> 00:51:03,559 There's one problem, 'cause all the restrictions 1109 00:51:03,657 --> 00:51:06,041 of my tattoos. 1110 00:51:06,141 --> 00:51:07,800 They might shut me down. 1111 00:51:07,902 --> 00:51:08,882 Here we go. 1112 00:51:08,983 --> 00:51:10,563 We're live! 1113 00:51:10,664 --> 00:51:12,483 Tattoos? No. 1114 00:51:12,585 --> 00:51:14,746 And so the piercing? No. 1115 00:51:29,554 --> 00:51:33,378 Ah! Sorry, sorry. 1116 00:51:33,478 --> 00:51:35,780 Did you see that? 1117 00:51:35,880 --> 00:51:39,762 Because I have tattoos, I can't--I can't go livestream. 1118 00:51:50,648 --> 00:51:52,829 That's--that's really messed up. You know? 1119 00:51:52,929 --> 00:51:54,590 Yeah, on Duoyin you have to watch 1120 00:51:54,690 --> 00:51:56,313 everything that you say. 1121 00:51:56,411 --> 00:52:00,233 Just one word... one frame 1122 00:52:00,335 --> 00:52:02,335 could set your whole video off. 1123 00:52:04,938 --> 00:52:08,960 For the first time in history, a person can write something 1124 00:52:09,061 --> 00:52:11,922 or say something and have it reach 1125 00:52:12,021 --> 00:52:14,445 a large segment of the world. 1126 00:52:14,545 --> 00:52:17,123 So this brings up the topic of censorship, 1127 00:52:17,224 --> 00:52:19,206 which is really tricky. 1128 00:52:19,306 --> 00:52:23,889 The internet allows for the fastest spread of ideas 1129 00:52:23,989 --> 00:52:25,652 in the history of the world. 1130 00:52:25,751 --> 00:52:27,452 China with the great firewall 1131 00:52:27,550 --> 00:52:30,893 and with government moderation has taken a very active hand 1132 00:52:30,994 --> 00:52:33,655 in controlling what topics are discussed, 1133 00:52:33,755 --> 00:52:36,456 what ideas are acceptable to discuss on the internet. 1134 00:52:36,556 --> 00:52:40,498 We've never had to grapple with questions around censorship 1135 00:52:40,599 --> 00:52:42,981 and in an era where so many people have 1136 00:52:43,081 --> 00:52:45,623 a global megaphone now in their hands. 1137 00:52:45,722 --> 00:52:49,585 ♪ ♪ 1138 00:52:49,686 --> 00:52:52,106 It was back in late December when Dr. Li Wenliang 1139 00:52:52,206 --> 00:52:53,748 first warned friends on WeChat 1140 00:52:53,847 --> 00:52:56,389 about a SARS-like disease going around. 1141 00:52:56,489 --> 00:52:58,791 Li sent a group message saying that a test result 1142 00:52:58,891 --> 00:53:00,672 from a patient quarantined at the hospital 1143 00:53:00,773 --> 00:53:03,954 where he worked showed a patient had a coronavirus, 1144 00:53:04,054 --> 00:53:07,157 but hours after being sent, Wuhan City health officials 1145 00:53:07,257 --> 00:53:08,438 tracked Li down, 1146 00:53:08,536 --> 00:53:10,978 questioning where he got the information. 1147 00:53:21,545 --> 00:53:27,007 Dr. Li sounded the alarm early in the COVID-19 outbreak. 1148 00:53:27,108 --> 00:53:30,012 He soon faced government intimidation, 1149 00:53:30,112 --> 00:53:33,612 and then contracted the virus. 1150 00:53:33,713 --> 00:53:35,295 When he passed away, 1151 00:53:35,393 --> 00:53:38,056 I was among many Chinese médecins 1152 00:53:38,155 --> 00:53:40,737 who expressed grief and outrage 1153 00:53:40,838 --> 00:53:43,420 at the events, 1154 00:53:43,518 --> 00:53:46,963 only to have my account deleted. 1155 00:53:48,643 --> 00:53:52,186 I felt guilt more than anger. 1156 00:53:52,286 --> 00:53:56,065 At the time, I was a tech worker at ByteDance, 1157 00:53:56,166 --> 00:53:59,309 where I helped develop tools and platforms 1158 00:53:59,407 --> 00:54:01,391 for content moderation. 1159 00:54:01,489 --> 00:54:05,512 In other words, I had helped build a system 1160 00:54:05,612 --> 00:54:07,996 that censored accounts like mine. 1161 00:54:08,094 --> 00:54:09,637 ♪ ♪ 1162 00:54:09,737 --> 00:54:12,998 The technologies we created supported the entire company's 1163 00:54:13,097 --> 00:54:16,440 content moderation, including Duoyin at home, 1164 00:54:16,539 --> 00:54:19,322 and its international equivalent, TikTok. 1165 00:54:19,422 --> 00:54:22,563 ♪ ♪ 1166 00:54:22,664 --> 00:54:26,286 There was a long, constantly updated list 1167 00:54:26,387 --> 00:54:31,170 of sensitive words, dates and names. 1168 00:54:31,268 --> 00:54:33,731 If a user mentioned a sensitive term, 1169 00:54:33,831 --> 00:54:37,253 they would shut down the ongoing livestream session 1170 00:54:37,353 --> 00:54:40,936 and even suspend or delete their account. 1171 00:54:41,036 --> 00:54:42,376 ♪ ♪ 1172 00:54:42,474 --> 00:54:44,619 Many of my colleagues felt uneasy 1173 00:54:44,719 --> 00:54:47,420 about what we were doing, 1174 00:54:47,518 --> 00:54:51,063 but we all felt that there was nothing we can do. 1175 00:54:51,161 --> 00:54:52,744 ♪ ♪ 1176 00:54:52,844 --> 00:54:55,184 Dr. Li warned his colleagues and friends 1177 00:54:55,282 --> 00:54:58,224 about an unknown virus. 1178 00:54:58,324 --> 00:55:01,068 He was punished for that. 1179 00:55:01,166 --> 00:55:05,112 Just imagine, had any social media platform 1180 00:55:05,210 --> 00:55:07,072 been able to reject the government's 1181 00:55:07,172 --> 00:55:11,715 censorship directives, perhaps millions of lives 1182 00:55:11,815 --> 00:55:15,797 would have been saved today. 1183 00:55:15,896 --> 00:55:17,998 ♪ ♪ 1184 00:55:18,099 --> 00:55:20,199 NEWSCASTER: TikTok faces government investigation 1185 00:55:20,300 --> 00:55:22,041 in over seven countries, 1186 00:55:22,141 --> 00:55:24,282 all citing concerns over national security 1187 00:55:24,382 --> 00:55:27,164 and content moderation. 1188 00:55:27,264 --> 00:55:33,228 ♪ ♪ 1189 00:55:36,590 --> 00:55:41,733 CHRIS: In 2019, we had someone contact us, 1190 00:55:41,835 --> 00:55:45,335 claiming to have internal information and access 1191 00:55:45,436 --> 00:55:49,157 to internal TikTok moderation guidelines. 1192 00:55:50,478 --> 00:55:55,063 And I don't think we realised, at the time, 1193 00:55:55,161 --> 00:55:57,824 how big the story would get. 1194 00:55:57,922 --> 00:55:59,965 [cell phone buzzing] 1195 00:56:02,487 --> 00:56:07,630 What we saw was that TikTok was very explicit 1196 00:56:07,731 --> 00:56:11,072 about what it wanted to have on the platform, 1197 00:56:11,172 --> 00:56:14,114 and what it didn't want to show on the platform. 1198 00:56:14,213 --> 00:56:15,554 ♪ ♪ 1199 00:56:15,655 --> 00:56:18,356 TikTok rarely deletes content. 1200 00:56:18,456 --> 00:56:19,556 They don't have to. 1201 00:56:19,657 --> 00:56:20,916 They can just hide it. 1202 00:56:21,018 --> 00:56:22,478 ♪ ♪ 1203 00:56:22,579 --> 00:56:25,840 The guidelines were explicitly instructing moderators 1204 00:56:25,940 --> 00:56:32,045 to deal with people who are LGBTQ or had disabilities 1205 00:56:32,146 --> 00:56:35,327 or for whatever reason TikTok felt 1206 00:56:35,425 --> 00:56:41,070 were vulnerable to bullying by hiding their content. 1207 00:56:43,271 --> 00:56:44,652 So it was in Mandarin, 1208 00:56:44,753 --> 00:56:47,454 and underneath a fairly awkward 1209 00:56:47,554 --> 00:56:49,416 English translation, 1210 00:56:49,516 --> 00:56:53,579 so it says subjects who is susceptible to bullying 1211 00:56:53,679 --> 00:56:57,581 or harassment, based on their physical or mental condition. 1212 00:56:57,681 --> 00:57:01,905 Example, facial disfigurement, 1213 00:57:02,005 --> 00:57:05,545 autism, Down syndrome, 1214 00:57:05,646 --> 00:57:07,268 disabled people or people 1215 00:57:07,367 --> 00:57:10,228 with some facial problems, etc. 1216 00:57:10,329 --> 00:57:13,989 Content of subjects likely to incite cyberbullying 1217 00:57:14,090 --> 00:57:18,614 will be allowed, but marked with risk tag 4. 1218 00:57:21,175 --> 00:57:23,438 Basically, and like... different levels 1219 00:57:23,536 --> 00:57:26,039 of what we call "algorithmic punishment" 1220 00:57:26,139 --> 00:57:27,679 or "algorithmic visibility," 1221 00:57:27,780 --> 00:57:30,922 so they were put in a category called "Risk 4," 1222 00:57:31,021 --> 00:57:33,882 which means that as soon as their videos 1223 00:57:33,983 --> 00:57:37,286 would reach a certain threshold of views, 1224 00:57:37,387 --> 00:57:41,449 they would automatically also be taken from the "For You" feed. 1225 00:57:41,547 --> 00:57:46,371 ♪ ♪ 1226 00:57:46,472 --> 00:57:50,795 Later on, other leaks surfaced. 1227 00:58:12,128 --> 00:58:15,630 I actually have the ugly content policy 1228 00:58:15,731 --> 00:58:16,911 right in front of me, 1229 00:58:17,012 --> 00:58:19,190 So... crazy to read this. 1230 00:58:19,291 --> 00:58:22,114 "Abnormal body shape, chubby, 1231 00:58:22,213 --> 00:58:24,036 "ugly facial looks, 1232 00:58:24,135 --> 00:58:26,715 "not limited to 'disformatted' face, 1233 00:58:26,815 --> 00:58:29,039 "fangs, lack of front teeth, 1234 00:58:29,137 --> 00:58:31,521 senior people with too many wrinkles..." 1235 00:58:31,621 --> 00:58:33,621 And it just goes on and on, right? 1236 00:58:44,947 --> 00:58:47,050 In a statement, TikTok said, 1237 00:58:47,150 --> 00:58:48,612 "Earlier, we took a blunt approach 1238 00:58:48,710 --> 00:58:51,331 "to minimising conflict on the platform... 1239 00:58:51,431 --> 00:58:54,896 "Today we use local content moderation policies. 1240 00:58:54,996 --> 00:58:58,097 "We want TikTok to be a space where everyone can safely 1241 00:58:58,197 --> 00:59:01,197 and freely express themselves." 1242 00:59:02,079 --> 00:59:04,820 It's just a lot of the "move fast and break things" 1243 00:59:04,920 --> 00:59:06,063 attitude that we've seen 1244 00:59:06,161 --> 00:59:09,264 from other Silicon Valley companies. 1245 00:59:09,364 --> 00:59:14,965 It's not like only TikTok was doing these things. 1246 00:59:16,329 --> 00:59:21,472 Obviously, the representation that we see in media 1247 00:59:21,570 --> 00:59:26,672 is not an accurate picture of society, 1248 00:59:26,773 --> 00:59:29,074 but I think there is a difference 1249 00:59:29,175 --> 00:59:32,719 that, you know, no TV station, nor does Hollywood 1250 00:59:32,818 --> 00:59:36,960 pretends to be open access to everybody, 1251 00:59:37,061 --> 00:59:39,041 whereas this is a promise 1252 00:59:39,143 --> 00:59:42,764 that social media platforms make. 1253 00:59:42,864 --> 00:59:46,327 ♪ ♪ 1254 00:59:46,425 --> 00:59:47,806 Am I the only one that has noticed 1255 00:59:47,907 --> 00:59:51,130 that black creators get least favorite body algorithm? 1256 00:59:51,231 --> 00:59:53,090 How is it that my followers are not seeing my video? 1257 00:59:53,190 --> 00:59:54,452 What's up with that algorithm? 1258 00:59:54,550 --> 00:59:57,695 I've had some of my TikTok videos get zero views, 1259 00:59:57,795 --> 00:59:59,936 and I've been shadowbanned. 1260 01:00:00,036 --> 01:00:03,657 EMILY: Shadowbanning on TikTok is just when 1261 01:00:03,757 --> 01:00:05,498 something in the algorithm 1262 01:00:05,599 --> 01:00:08,139 that just kind of shuts you out completely. 1263 01:00:08,239 --> 01:00:10,862 They just like find a way to make it 1264 01:00:10,963 --> 01:00:13,282 so nobody sees any of your content. 1265 01:00:16,405 --> 01:00:18,547 I am an apprenticing ocularist, 1266 01:00:18,646 --> 01:00:20,829 an artist who works in the medical field, uh, 1267 01:00:20,929 --> 01:00:23,530 making prosthetic eyes. 1268 01:00:25,050 --> 01:00:27,791 TikTok's algorithm is very good. 1269 01:00:27,893 --> 01:00:29,873 You know, you can create an account 1270 01:00:29,974 --> 01:00:32,315 and within a couple of hours or a couple of days 1271 01:00:32,416 --> 01:00:34,597 that algorithm knows who you are. 1272 01:00:34,697 --> 01:00:36,838 You know? 1273 01:00:36,938 --> 01:00:39,679 So for that same algorithm to kind of just... 1274 01:00:39,780 --> 01:00:42,643 rip the rug out from thousands of Black creators, 1275 01:00:42,742 --> 01:00:45,704 it kind of pulls you back for a second. 1276 01:00:46,103 --> 01:00:47,085 We know the history 1277 01:00:47,186 --> 01:00:48,405 that this nation has with Black people. 1278 01:00:48,505 --> 01:00:50,646 We know the savagery that they had to endure 1279 01:00:50,746 --> 01:00:52,007 because of colonisers, 1280 01:00:52,108 --> 01:00:53,929 and the savagery that they still have to endure... 1281 01:00:54,030 --> 01:00:56,331 I got on, and I had made a video talking 1282 01:00:56,431 --> 01:01:00,494 about how my "For You" page was only of white creators 1283 01:01:00,594 --> 01:01:04,856 and by that point, I would say I had... 1284 01:01:04,956 --> 01:01:08,539 150 to 200,000 followers. 1285 01:01:08,637 --> 01:01:11,739 And so I had a video sitting, that I've published 1286 01:01:11,840 --> 01:01:14,782 for three hours, and it said zero views. 1287 01:01:14,882 --> 01:01:17,184 That was the first time where I was, like, 1288 01:01:17,282 --> 01:01:19,746 this is blatant shadowbanning. 1289 01:01:19,844 --> 01:01:21,827 Nobody's seeing us 'cause they're ensuring 1290 01:01:21,925 --> 01:01:23,929 that nobody can. 1291 01:01:24,608 --> 01:01:25,989 NEWSCASTER: Tech troubles. 1292 01:01:26,088 --> 01:01:29,431 TikTok says a technical glitch is making it appear 1293 01:01:29,530 --> 01:01:31,994 as if posts with the hashtag "#blacklives matter" 1294 01:01:32,094 --> 01:01:34,393 and "#georgefloyd" received no views. 1295 01:01:34,494 --> 01:01:35,914 The video platform says 1296 01:01:36,014 --> 01:01:38,197 it's dealing with a display issue 1297 01:01:38,297 --> 01:01:40,518 adding that videos featuring those tags 1298 01:01:40,619 --> 01:01:43,599 have amassed more than two billion views. 1299 01:01:43,699 --> 01:01:46,521 The moment you go to use a tag on TikTok, 1300 01:01:46,621 --> 01:01:51,764 it'll tell you how many views, have been on that tag. 1301 01:01:51,864 --> 01:01:54,166 And you go to write "black lives matter", 1302 01:01:54,268 --> 01:01:57,570 and it says zero or, you know, "#blm," 1303 01:01:57,670 --> 01:02:00,331 "georgefloyd," "ahmaudarbery," anything. 1304 01:02:00,431 --> 01:02:02,572 It would tell you zero. 1305 01:02:02,672 --> 01:02:04,054 NEWSCASTER: TikTok said in a statement, 1306 01:02:04,152 --> 01:02:06,014 which reads in part, "First, to our Black community: 1307 01:02:06,114 --> 01:02:07,175 We want to..." 1308 01:02:07,275 --> 01:02:09,097 "Last week, a technical glitch made it 1309 01:02:09,195 --> 01:02:13,657 "temporarily appear as if posts uploaded using #blacklivesmatter 1310 01:02:13,757 --> 01:02:17,021 "and #georgefloyd had received zero views. 1311 01:02:17,121 --> 01:02:18,300 "We understand that many assumed 1312 01:02:18,402 --> 01:02:19,822 "it's bugged to be an intentional act 1313 01:02:19,922 --> 01:02:22,264 "to suppress experiences and invalidate the emotions 1314 01:02:22,364 --> 01:02:23,704 "felt by the Black community, 1315 01:02:23,804 --> 01:02:25,224 and we know we have work to do 1316 01:02:25,324 --> 01:02:27,547 to regain and repair that trust." 1317 01:02:27,648 --> 01:02:29,588 Kind of like the normal check points 1318 01:02:29,688 --> 01:02:30,911 that people go through. 1319 01:02:31,010 --> 01:02:32,349 "We're growing, we're learning, 1320 01:02:32,449 --> 01:02:35,713 we're trying to do better." 1321 01:02:35,813 --> 01:02:38,273 I would love to believe that it was a technical glitch. 1322 01:02:38,373 --> 01:02:40,237 'Cause you're like, "That's absolutely possible. 1323 01:02:40,335 --> 01:02:43,556 100%," but it's so oddly specific 1324 01:02:43,657 --> 01:02:47,099 that I can't attribute that to just being a glitch. 1325 01:02:48,940 --> 01:02:50,440 SHELLY: TikTok has said that their content moderation 1326 01:02:50,541 --> 01:02:51,844 has changed. 1327 01:02:51,943 --> 01:02:54,085 Some of what you see on there backs that up. 1328 01:02:54,184 --> 01:02:57,445 The sense that you see a lot of activism there. 1329 01:02:57,545 --> 01:02:58,965 You saw Black Lives Matter content, 1330 01:02:59,065 --> 01:03:01,530 eventually be up on there. 1331 01:03:01,630 --> 01:03:05,371 But it's constantly changing, it's a constant black box. 1332 01:03:05,472 --> 01:03:08,853 We have no idea what's going into any of these algorithms. 1333 01:03:08,954 --> 01:03:11,594 And there's zero transparency. 1334 01:03:15,197 --> 01:03:16,898 NEWSCASTER: ByteDance, the Beijing-based 1335 01:03:16,998 --> 01:03:19,862 owner of TikTok, apologised for the suspension, 1336 01:03:19,960 --> 01:03:22,300 blaming a human moderation error. 1337 01:03:22,402 --> 01:03:25,545 And TikTok says it doesn't apply Chinese moderation 1338 01:03:25,643 --> 01:03:29,286 principles to its product outside of mainland China. 1339 01:03:29,925 --> 01:03:33,907 FEROZA: After a few days, TikTok gave my account back. 1340 01:03:34,007 --> 01:03:35,349 People don't seem to understand 1341 01:03:35,449 --> 01:03:37,992 what it feels like to have someone try to take away 1342 01:03:38,090 --> 01:03:41,195 your voice, and then they give it back to you. 1343 01:03:41,295 --> 01:03:43,916 It's my voice, and them deciding 1344 01:03:44,016 --> 01:03:45,155 to give me back my account 1345 01:03:45,255 --> 01:03:46,675 after taking it away. It was as if... 1346 01:03:46,777 --> 01:03:48,639 they could control what I could say 1347 01:03:48,739 --> 01:03:50,521 and what I could do, 1348 01:03:50,621 --> 01:03:54,222 and it's just disgusting to see an app do that. 1349 01:03:55,704 --> 01:03:57,684 'Til this day, my classmates will post 1350 01:03:57,782 --> 01:03:59,806 on my social media accounts, 1351 01:03:59,905 --> 01:04:02,047 leaving hate comments. 1352 01:04:02,146 --> 01:04:04,208 I can delete the comments, but I'm gonna go to class 1353 01:04:04,306 --> 01:04:05,969 the next day, and I'm gonna sit next to the person 1354 01:04:06,070 --> 01:04:09,210 who hates my guts, for just speaking on issues 1355 01:04:09,311 --> 01:04:11,554 I believe must be spoken about. 1356 01:04:13,554 --> 01:04:16,737 When you're so invested on apps like TikTok, 1357 01:04:16,835 --> 01:04:20,018 when something bad happens on social media, 1358 01:04:20,119 --> 01:04:21,099 your life is torn apart. 1359 01:04:21,199 --> 01:04:26,143 ♪ ♪ 1360 01:04:26,242 --> 01:04:29,704 Story time. We all worked on the Kamala Harris campaign, 1361 01:04:29,804 --> 01:04:31,545 in the presidential primary. 1362 01:04:31,646 --> 01:04:35,108 And this is your sign to get a tattoo with your work besties. 1363 01:04:35,208 --> 01:04:36,869 For the people. 1364 01:04:36,969 --> 01:04:38,271 DEJA: I was 19 years old 1365 01:04:38,371 --> 01:04:40,349 when I started on the Kamala Harris campaign. 1366 01:04:40,449 --> 01:04:43,512 I withdrew my sophomore year at Columbia. 1367 01:04:43,612 --> 01:04:45,273 And it was a huge move. 1368 01:04:45,373 --> 01:04:47,275 I think that our perspective as young people 1369 01:04:47,373 --> 01:04:49,838 is what led us to think TikTok is important. 1370 01:04:49,938 --> 01:04:51,237 There's a lot of young people there. 1371 01:04:51,338 --> 01:04:54,719 We were the first campaign that was putting content 1372 01:04:54,820 --> 01:04:56,280 on TikTok directly. 1373 01:04:56,380 --> 01:04:58,762 I feel like we have to take a moment for this... this. 1374 01:04:58,862 --> 01:04:59,681 Oh, thank you. 1375 01:04:59,782 --> 01:05:00,804 Oh. Yes. 1376 01:05:00,905 --> 01:05:03,565 All of Yessica's iconic shots. 1377 01:05:03,664 --> 01:05:06,007 So good. 1378 01:05:06,106 --> 01:05:09,289 I mean, you pioneered vertical video. 1379 01:05:09,389 --> 01:05:11,489 I--I love that shot in the rain. 1380 01:05:11,590 --> 01:05:13,371 She was booging it down. 1381 01:05:13,472 --> 01:05:16,213 That one was everywhere. I love that. 1382 01:05:16,313 --> 01:05:18,655 I just remember, like, all those airplane videos 1383 01:05:18,755 --> 01:05:20,376 really making the rounds on TikTok. 1384 01:05:20,474 --> 01:05:21,617 Absolutely. 1385 01:05:21,715 --> 01:05:22,938 They were showing up everywhere. 1386 01:05:23,039 --> 01:05:24,579 And it was interesting to see the progression. 1387 01:05:24,679 --> 01:05:27,780 Like, when different candidates started to have, like, 1388 01:05:27,880 --> 01:05:30,744 their official TikToks and what kind of content 1389 01:05:30,844 --> 01:05:32,864 did they make on TikTok. 1390 01:05:32,963 --> 01:05:34,983 I think we felt like we were kind of starting 1391 01:05:35,085 --> 01:05:36,266 to hit our stride on TikTok, 1392 01:05:36,364 --> 01:05:39,027 and then we, like, had to stop. 1393 01:05:39,128 --> 01:05:42,070 That email, that dreadful, dreadful email we got. 1394 01:05:42,170 --> 01:05:43,231 The dark day when we were told 1395 01:05:43,329 --> 01:05:46,112 that we couldn't be on TikTok anymore. 1396 01:05:46,213 --> 01:05:47,672 DEJA: When I get this email that, 1397 01:05:47,773 --> 01:05:50,554 because of security reasons, we were all being asked 1398 01:05:50,655 --> 01:05:54,916 to delete TikTok on government and military phones... 1399 01:05:55,018 --> 01:05:57,199 That was a sad email. That was a tough one. 1400 01:05:57,297 --> 01:05:59,400 NEWSCASTER: TikTok ownership by a Chinese parent company 1401 01:05:59,498 --> 01:06:01,081 subject to Chinese surveillance law 1402 01:06:01,181 --> 01:06:03,762 has made the app's popularity problematic, 1403 01:06:03,862 --> 01:06:05,684 causing concerns from the US Army, 1404 01:06:05,782 --> 01:06:08,045 the Navy, the TSA, the DNC, the RNC, 1405 01:06:08,146 --> 01:06:09,487 and the Biden campaign, 1406 01:06:09,588 --> 01:06:11,789 all banning TikTok from their phones. 1407 01:06:13,228 --> 01:06:15,010 SHELLY: For many young soldiers in the military 1408 01:06:15,108 --> 01:06:17,652 who were using TikTok, they were in all sorts 1409 01:06:17,753 --> 01:06:20,974 of US military bases around the world, 1410 01:06:21,074 --> 01:06:22,135 and said they would go 1411 01:06:22,233 --> 01:06:23,695 and they would do pushup contests. 1412 01:06:23,795 --> 01:06:26,657 They would, you know, do tours of the bases, then... 1413 01:06:26,757 --> 01:06:29,579 You know, they were really showing some pretty... 1414 01:06:29,679 --> 01:06:32,380 top secret assets to anyone in the world 1415 01:06:32,481 --> 01:06:33,702 wanting to see them, 1416 01:06:33,800 --> 01:06:35,583 and this was at a moment where... 1417 01:06:35,681 --> 01:06:38,005 people were not taking TikTok seriously. 1418 01:06:38,965 --> 01:06:42,666 But what they realised was this silly little kids app 1419 01:06:42,768 --> 01:06:44,507 was collecting a ton of information 1420 01:06:44,608 --> 01:06:48,871 on GPS, on location, of all these soldiers, 1421 01:06:48,972 --> 01:06:50,554 and all of that, in the end, 1422 01:06:50,652 --> 01:06:53,695 was heading back into a Chinese company. 1423 01:06:54,896 --> 01:06:56,637 ♪ It took too long, it took too long ♪ 1424 01:06:56,737 --> 01:06:59,237 ♪ It took too long for you to call back ♪ 1425 01:06:59,338 --> 01:07:01,639 ♪ And normally I would just forget that... ♪ 1426 01:07:01,739 --> 01:07:03,561 From a nation state's perspective, 1427 01:07:03,661 --> 01:07:06,003 well, data is the new oil. 1428 01:07:06,103 --> 01:07:09,045 If I can understand the connections between people, 1429 01:07:09,143 --> 01:07:11,204 I can start to target my misinformation, 1430 01:07:11,304 --> 01:07:13,847 so that one person is likely to take actions 1431 01:07:13,947 --> 01:07:16,547 in the real world, like vote. 1432 01:07:17,949 --> 01:07:20,170 So the data that TikTok collects 1433 01:07:20,271 --> 01:07:22,050 is on par with what other social media companies 1434 01:07:22,152 --> 01:07:24,155 are collecting. 1435 01:07:24,954 --> 01:07:28,896 So, the question really becomes, "Why is TikTok being picked on?" 1436 01:07:28,996 --> 01:07:31,219 Xenophobia should certainly be considered a part, 1437 01:07:31,318 --> 01:07:33,498 as part of this, we've seen a rise in hate crimes 1438 01:07:33,599 --> 01:07:35,981 against Asian-Americans, and so I think, 1439 01:07:36,081 --> 01:07:38,541 being very clear about the differences, 1440 01:07:38,643 --> 01:07:41,304 uh, of the practices of a government 1441 01:07:41,405 --> 01:07:44,266 versus the people that happen to reside 1442 01:07:44,364 --> 01:07:45,547 inside of that nation state. 1443 01:07:45,646 --> 01:07:47,907 After all, I don't agree with 100% of the things 1444 01:07:48,007 --> 01:07:49,789 our nation does. 1445 01:07:49,889 --> 01:07:52,070 ♪ I'm singing Trump 2020 ♪ 1446 01:07:52,170 --> 01:07:53,952 ♪ Trump 2020 ♪ 1447 01:07:54,050 --> 01:07:57,974 ♪ Trump 2020, Trump 2020 ♪ 1448 01:07:58,614 --> 01:07:59,996 ♪ ♪ 1449 01:08:00,097 --> 01:08:03,318 ALEYSHA: When I first found Gen-Z comedians online, 1450 01:08:03,416 --> 01:08:06,121 it was so inspiring to me as a comedian, 1451 01:08:06,219 --> 01:08:09,521 in seeing how easy it is to build traction 1452 01:08:09,621 --> 01:08:11,623 on apps like TikTok. 1453 01:08:13,583 --> 01:08:15,445 One of my friends had posted 1454 01:08:15,545 --> 01:08:17,448 that Donald Trump's Tulsa rally 1455 01:08:17,549 --> 01:08:20,210 had free tickets, and my first thought 1456 01:08:20,310 --> 01:08:24,171 was just how easy is it to get a ticket. 1457 01:08:24,272 --> 01:08:26,094 Guys, Donald Trump is having a rally. 1458 01:08:26,193 --> 01:08:28,015 All you had to do is give your phone number 1459 01:08:28,116 --> 01:08:32,098 and so I got two tickets, but I totally forgot 1460 01:08:32,197 --> 01:08:35,540 that I had to pick every individual piece 1461 01:08:35,639 --> 01:08:37,741 of lint off of my floor, 1462 01:08:37,841 --> 01:08:40,381 and then sort them by size, so I can't... 1463 01:08:40,482 --> 01:08:42,545 make it for Friday. 1464 01:08:42,644 --> 01:08:47,185 I had realised the potential of this. 1465 01:08:47,287 --> 01:08:50,148 You should be really careful going to do this, you know. 1466 01:08:50,247 --> 01:08:52,590 You don't want a bunch of empty seats. 1467 01:08:52,689 --> 01:08:55,192 And when I posted it, I didn't think much of it... 1468 01:08:55,292 --> 01:08:57,433 ♪ ♪ 1469 01:08:57,533 --> 01:09:00,595 ...but in two days it just blew up. 1470 01:09:00,696 --> 01:09:04,077 Oh, my God! I just registered for Trump's rally, 1471 01:09:04,176 --> 01:09:06,719 and I'm so excited to not go. 1472 01:09:06,819 --> 01:09:07,639 Mm-hmm. 1473 01:09:07,738 --> 01:09:09,442 We've never had an empty seat. 1474 01:09:09,541 --> 01:09:11,082 And we certainly won't in Oklahoma. 1475 01:09:11,183 --> 01:09:12,964 TikTok users may well be 1476 01:09:13,063 --> 01:09:15,644 President Trump's latest adversary, 1477 01:09:15,743 --> 01:09:18,607 after thousands of people who've gotten tickets online 1478 01:09:18,706 --> 01:09:19,768 didn't show up, 1479 01:09:19,867 --> 01:09:22,649 thanks to a secret campaign on TikTok. 1480 01:09:22,750 --> 01:09:26,331 We've gotten over a million tickets sold 1481 01:09:26,430 --> 01:09:28,292 and only 6,000 people showed up. 1482 01:09:28,393 --> 01:09:30,955 President Trump was frustrated and angry. 1483 01:09:36,397 --> 01:09:40,220 TikTok is definitely giving teenagers new power. 1484 01:09:40,321 --> 01:09:43,862 I think it's unbelievable that I was able to prank 1485 01:09:43,962 --> 01:09:45,662 an American President. 1486 01:09:45,763 --> 01:09:47,304 NEWSCASTER: Trump nemesis, New York Congresswoman 1487 01:09:47,404 --> 01:09:49,725 Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, gloated. 1488 01:09:54,290 --> 01:09:56,510 As soon as that rally happened, 1489 01:09:56,609 --> 01:10:00,554 that's when the rhetoric on TikTok rose to a level 1490 01:10:00,653 --> 01:10:02,113 that we hadn't seen before. 1491 01:10:02,214 --> 01:10:04,875 The real China hawks in his Administration 1492 01:10:04,975 --> 01:10:07,317 were ready to go after this company, and then were kind 1493 01:10:07,417 --> 01:10:10,439 of waiting for the moment, and this rally 1494 01:10:10,540 --> 01:10:12,201 and the pandemic came together 1495 01:10:12,300 --> 01:10:13,720 to give them that moment that they needed. 1496 01:10:13,821 --> 01:10:16,723 The Pentagon, the Department of State, 1497 01:10:16,823 --> 01:10:18,444 the Department of Homeland Security, 1498 01:10:18,545 --> 01:10:21,966 and the TSA have all banned their employees 1499 01:10:22,067 --> 01:10:23,287 and service members 1500 01:10:23,388 --> 01:10:25,848 from using TikTok on government devices, 1501 01:10:25,948 --> 01:10:27,970 and we know that it's a national security risk. 1502 01:10:28,071 --> 01:10:30,211 People really pounced on this moment, 1503 01:10:30,310 --> 01:10:32,893 not only the China hawks and the US government, 1504 01:10:32,993 --> 01:10:36,895 but also the tech companies, particularly Facebook. 1505 01:10:36,993 --> 01:10:39,216 Do you believe that the Chinese government 1506 01:10:39,317 --> 01:10:42,339 steals technology from US companies? 1507 01:10:42,439 --> 01:10:44,661 Uh, Congressman, I think it's well documented 1508 01:10:44,760 --> 01:10:46,661 that the Chinese government steals technology 1509 01:10:46,761 --> 01:10:48,703 from American companies. 1510 01:10:48,804 --> 01:10:51,264 And so Mark Zuckerberg saw this as a moment 1511 01:10:51,363 --> 01:10:53,104 and Facebook pounced on this moment, 1512 01:10:53,205 --> 01:10:55,707 where TikTok was getting under pressure, 1513 01:10:55,808 --> 01:10:58,069 and he said, "I'm gonna turn this up even more." 1514 01:10:58,170 --> 01:11:00,510 And so they started making their case 1515 01:11:00,609 --> 01:11:02,390 to the different people in Congress 1516 01:11:02,491 --> 01:11:04,634 who were really going after Facebook, 1517 01:11:04,733 --> 01:11:06,194 and they were saying, "You know what? 1518 01:11:06,295 --> 01:11:08,234 "You're looking at us as the Boogeyman, 1519 01:11:08,335 --> 01:11:10,397 "but we're just a distraction, 1520 01:11:10,496 --> 01:11:11,676 "from the real problem, 1521 01:11:11,777 --> 01:11:13,278 "which are the Chinese tech companies, 1522 01:11:13,377 --> 01:11:14,719 "and those are the companies 1523 01:11:14,819 --> 01:11:16,399 that you should be looking at." 1524 01:11:16,500 --> 01:11:18,241 Now the "Wall Street Journal" is reporting that... 1525 01:11:18,341 --> 01:11:21,363 Not only did Mark Zuckerberg publicly 1526 01:11:21,464 --> 01:11:23,085 go against TikTok, 1527 01:11:23,184 --> 01:11:26,966 he lobbied behind the scenes against the company, 1528 01:11:27,067 --> 01:11:29,368 in a private dinner with the President. 1529 01:11:29,469 --> 01:11:31,210 There was a moment during the pandemic 1530 01:11:31,309 --> 01:11:33,010 where cases were going up, 1531 01:11:33,109 --> 01:11:34,451 we didn't have a vaccine, 1532 01:11:34,551 --> 01:11:37,533 Donald Trump's campaign wasn't doing so well, 1533 01:11:37,634 --> 01:11:41,616 and so Donald Trump started really hammering this idea home 1534 01:11:41,716 --> 01:11:45,098 that we need to blame China for the Coronavirus, 1535 01:11:45,198 --> 01:11:46,339 and this pandemic. 1536 01:11:46,439 --> 01:11:48,340 "Kung-flu." 1537 01:11:48,439 --> 01:11:50,100 The Chinese virus. 1538 01:11:50,201 --> 01:11:51,622 REPORTER: Why do you keep using this? 1539 01:11:51,723 --> 01:11:53,344 - Because it comes from China. - Sounds racist. 1540 01:11:53,443 --> 01:11:54,863 It's not racist at all. No. 1541 01:11:54,964 --> 01:11:57,166 Not at all. It comes from China. 1542 01:11:57,886 --> 01:11:59,987 SHELLY: Trump loved that. He wanted to play to that, 1543 01:12:00,087 --> 01:12:03,510 because it became this kind of rallying cry in the US 1544 01:12:03,609 --> 01:12:05,591 to go after China, 1545 01:12:05,692 --> 01:12:10,154 and TikTok kind of became, um, this symbol of China 1546 01:12:10,252 --> 01:12:11,875 at that moment. 1547 01:12:11,975 --> 01:12:14,116 NEWSCASTER: There have been more than 2,500 incidents 1548 01:12:14,216 --> 01:12:16,638 of anti-Asian hate crimes. 1549 01:12:16,738 --> 01:12:18,439 NEWSCASTER: It's not just in the US, 1550 01:12:18,540 --> 01:12:21,720 Asians around the world have reported discrimination 1551 01:12:21,821 --> 01:12:23,683 linked to Coronavirus. 1552 01:12:23,782 --> 01:12:25,764 Asian hate, it didn't just started now. 1553 01:12:25,863 --> 01:12:27,765 It was always there. 1554 01:12:27,866 --> 01:12:29,866 It was always there. 1555 01:12:52,560 --> 01:12:54,622 Suddenly, because of the pandemic, 1556 01:12:54,723 --> 01:12:59,064 TikTok became this symbol of this fight 1557 01:12:59,165 --> 01:13:01,866 between the US and China, and a way for Donald Trump 1558 01:13:01,966 --> 01:13:03,867 to kind of deflect blame. 1559 01:13:03,966 --> 01:13:05,670 NEWSCASTER: It all started last Friday, 1560 01:13:05,769 --> 01:13:07,630 when President Trump send shockwaves 1561 01:13:07,729 --> 01:13:10,192 through social media after making this comment. 1562 01:13:10,291 --> 01:13:11,631 We're looking at TikTok. 1563 01:13:11,732 --> 01:13:13,193 We may be banning TikTok. 1564 01:13:13,292 --> 01:13:14,455 NEWSCASTER: The President threatened to block 1565 01:13:14,533 --> 01:13:15,595 the popular video app, 1566 01:13:15,696 --> 01:13:17,836 citing national security concerns. 1567 01:13:17,935 --> 01:13:20,679 No. We're--we're not a national security threat. 1568 01:13:20,778 --> 01:13:22,679 And we've said that time and again, 1569 01:13:22,779 --> 01:13:25,801 we have very strict data access and controls. 1570 01:13:25,902 --> 01:13:27,122 NEWSCASTER: TikTok has said, 1571 01:13:27,223 --> 01:13:28,403 "American user data is stored in the US, 1572 01:13:28,502 --> 01:13:29,964 "and backed up in Singapore, 1573 01:13:30,064 --> 01:13:31,326 not in China." 1574 01:13:31,425 --> 01:13:34,808 We are at a time when we're seeing a very much... 1575 01:13:34,907 --> 01:13:36,488 a geopolitical tension, as you know, 1576 01:13:36,589 --> 01:13:38,170 between the US and China, 1577 01:13:38,269 --> 01:13:39,609 and we are in the middle of that. 1578 01:13:39,710 --> 01:13:42,011 In China, there is this cyber security law 1579 01:13:42,112 --> 01:13:44,094 that states, "If we ask you for information, 1580 01:13:44,193 --> 01:13:45,372 then you have to give it to us." 1581 01:13:45,473 --> 01:13:47,536 NEWSCASTER: The 2017 law mandates 1582 01:13:47,635 --> 01:13:49,616 that Chinese-owned companies have to cooperate 1583 01:13:49,716 --> 01:13:50,935 with the Communist Party. 1584 01:13:51,037 --> 01:13:53,058 And so that's kind of the heart of the problem. 1585 01:13:53,158 --> 01:13:55,899 TikTok can swear up and down that they've never been asked 1586 01:13:56,000 --> 01:13:57,701 to give information, 1587 01:13:57,801 --> 01:13:59,002 but that doesn't stop the Chinese government 1588 01:13:59,082 --> 01:14:01,924 from taking information in the future. 1589 01:14:03,406 --> 01:14:05,946 I remember this moment, where we had the pandemic, 1590 01:14:06,046 --> 01:14:07,308 we had Black Lives Matter protests, 1591 01:14:07,407 --> 01:14:09,908 we have wildfires in California, 1592 01:14:10,009 --> 01:14:12,189 like the world feels like it's falling apart 1593 01:14:12,290 --> 01:14:14,832 and the only thing people on the news are talking about 1594 01:14:14,933 --> 01:14:16,993 is this ban of TikTok. 1595 01:14:17,094 --> 01:14:19,755 Just the threat alone has already had a huge impact. 1596 01:14:19,854 --> 01:14:22,196 Advertisers have been hitting pause on campaigns, 1597 01:14:22,296 --> 01:14:23,435 worth millions of dollars... 1598 01:14:23,537 --> 01:14:26,599 It caused absolute chaos in the tech industry, 1599 01:14:26,698 --> 01:14:28,281 like Apple and Google, 1600 01:14:28,380 --> 01:14:29,761 and everyone was sort of struggling 1601 01:14:29,862 --> 01:14:31,844 to get a handle on it, and thinking, 1602 01:14:31,943 --> 01:14:34,024 "Can a president even do this?" 1603 01:14:34,705 --> 01:14:35,885 Yo, what's up, guys? 1604 01:14:35,984 --> 01:14:38,247 I'm sure all you guys heard the news. 1605 01:14:38,348 --> 01:14:39,808 TikTok's getting banned. 1606 01:14:39,908 --> 01:14:45,131 I'm... going across TikTok, and all my friends 1607 01:14:45,232 --> 01:14:47,692 are saying bye to TikTok 1608 01:14:47,792 --> 01:14:49,854 "It's so sad I have to leave you, guys." 1609 01:14:49,955 --> 01:14:51,415 There's another one saying, "Please follow me 1610 01:14:51,515 --> 01:14:53,336 on all my other social media." 1611 01:14:53,435 --> 01:14:56,938 And I was fearing for my career. 1612 01:14:57,037 --> 01:14:58,420 ♪ But it's done now ♪ 1613 01:14:58,519 --> 01:15:00,460 I have five million followers. How can this get banned? 1614 01:15:00,560 --> 01:15:02,702 This is my living, it's what I do. 1615 01:15:02,801 --> 01:15:05,904 And I'm starting a video petition with #savetiktok. 1616 01:15:06,002 --> 01:15:08,305 You all mean the world to me. 1617 01:15:08,406 --> 01:15:09,147 [sighs] 1618 01:15:09,246 --> 01:15:10,667 Thank you for everything. 1619 01:15:10,768 --> 01:15:12,787 Thank you for a career. 1620 01:15:12,888 --> 01:15:17,091 Thank you for... making all my beatbox dreams come true. 1621 01:15:17,732 --> 01:15:19,232 That was tough. I... 1622 01:15:19,332 --> 01:15:21,835 I thought of a million different possibilities in my... 1623 01:15:21,934 --> 01:15:24,876 Maybe I gotta perform or maybe I gotta go busk 1624 01:15:24,975 --> 01:15:26,716 or something, like, "What am I gonna do?" 1625 01:15:26,817 --> 01:15:29,399 Like, it was definitely tough for me to see, 1626 01:15:29,500 --> 01:15:31,800 because I didn't want that to happen. 1627 01:15:31,899 --> 01:15:33,281 TikTok. 1628 01:15:33,381 --> 01:15:34,881 A few days after the executive order, 1629 01:15:34,982 --> 01:15:38,564 we hear that Microsoft is in deal talks to buy TikTok. 1630 01:15:38,665 --> 01:15:41,406 Then we started hearing, "Okay, well, maybe Oracle 1631 01:15:41,506 --> 01:15:42,685 "wants to buy TikTok, 1632 01:15:42,787 --> 01:15:44,127 "maybe all these other companies, you know, 1633 01:15:44,228 --> 01:15:46,890 "because if they bought TikTok then it would no longer 1634 01:15:46,991 --> 01:15:49,171 be owned by a Chinese company," 1635 01:15:49,272 --> 01:15:50,372 and suddenly that would be okay 1636 01:15:50,473 --> 01:15:52,252 for Donald Trump, and, oh, by the way, 1637 01:15:52,353 --> 01:15:54,975 Donald Trump also wanted to take a finder's fee 1638 01:15:55,076 --> 01:15:57,515 to get some money to the Treasury, 1639 01:15:57,836 --> 01:15:59,858 which is probably the most bizarre plot 1640 01:15:59,957 --> 01:16:02,377 of the entire storyline. 1641 01:16:02,479 --> 01:16:03,220 ♪ ♪ 1642 01:16:03,321 --> 01:16:04,140 TikTok kept saying, 1643 01:16:04,241 --> 01:16:05,301 "We're trying to find a deal, 1644 01:16:05,402 --> 01:16:06,782 we're trying to find a deal," 1645 01:16:06,881 --> 01:16:11,225 but, in the meantime, nothing was actually happening, 1646 01:16:11,326 --> 01:16:13,305 and then the Chinese government stepped in. 1647 01:16:13,406 --> 01:16:17,148 Tonight, state media have been lashing out, once again, 1648 01:16:17,247 --> 01:16:20,270 saying that Beijing would, quote, undoubtedly prepare 1649 01:16:20,368 --> 01:16:22,272 proportional countermeasures 1650 01:16:22,372 --> 01:16:25,674 for what it says could become piracy and looting 1651 01:16:25,774 --> 01:16:27,076 by United States. 1652 01:16:27,175 --> 01:16:30,796 All of a sudden, came this law that banned the export 1653 01:16:30,897 --> 01:16:33,238 or sale of any artificial intelligence 1654 01:16:33,339 --> 01:16:34,800 from China. 1655 01:16:34,899 --> 01:16:36,720 ByteDance and TikTok at its core 1656 01:16:36,821 --> 01:16:38,763 is an AI company. 1657 01:16:38,862 --> 01:16:40,964 And that was really what stopped the discussion. 1658 01:16:41,063 --> 01:16:44,487 And could prevent the sale of TikTok. 1659 01:16:44,586 --> 01:16:48,167 TikTok is one of the opening salvos in an emerging battle 1660 01:16:48,268 --> 01:16:51,411 of technology between the world's two largest 1661 01:16:51,510 --> 01:16:53,893 and most dynamic economies. 1662 01:16:53,992 --> 01:16:56,513 A new tech cold war. 1663 01:17:00,636 --> 01:17:03,337 SHELLY: And then, the November US Presidential Elections 1664 01:17:03,435 --> 01:17:05,698 started heating up, and the story of TikTok 1665 01:17:05,799 --> 01:17:07,781 became the biggest deal of the century 1666 01:17:07,880 --> 01:17:09,982 that never actually ended up happening, 1667 01:17:10,082 --> 01:17:13,224 because Donald Trump lost the Presidency, 1668 01:17:13,323 --> 01:17:14,946 Biden took over 1669 01:17:15,045 --> 01:17:17,147 and we never revisited it. 1670 01:17:17,246 --> 01:17:19,589 Well, it turns out the clock won't stop for TikTok. 1671 01:17:19,688 --> 01:17:21,948 President Biden has signed a new executive order, 1672 01:17:22,049 --> 01:17:24,631 voiding the Trump-era decision seeking to ban 1673 01:17:24,732 --> 01:17:25,952 the social media app. 1674 01:17:26,051 --> 01:17:27,594 Everybody, calm down. Calm down. 1675 01:17:27,693 --> 01:17:29,354 TikTok is not getting banned. 1676 01:17:29,455 --> 01:17:32,156 I just love how Trump tried to ban TikTok. 1677 01:17:32,255 --> 01:17:35,176 And now TikTok has banned Trump. 1678 01:17:37,779 --> 01:17:41,680 TikTok is just one app in what is going to be 1679 01:17:41,781 --> 01:17:44,243 a long line of applications 1680 01:17:44,344 --> 01:17:48,166 and new ways of communicating. 1681 01:17:48,265 --> 01:17:51,408 And so acknowledging our own humanity in this. 1682 01:17:51,509 --> 01:17:54,770 On the internet, we treat others like they're disposable, 1683 01:17:54,868 --> 01:17:58,792 but, and you know, nobody is disposable. 1684 01:17:59,513 --> 01:18:01,573 Okay, mama, what do you think of my haircut? 1685 01:18:01,674 --> 01:18:03,455 - I love it. - You love it? 1686 01:18:03,555 --> 01:18:05,416 My mom's now been sober 1687 01:18:05,515 --> 01:18:08,299 for a little more than four years. 1688 01:18:08,398 --> 01:18:11,020 And now we have a really great relationship. 1689 01:18:11,118 --> 01:18:13,341 I've actively worked... to remind myself 1690 01:18:13,442 --> 01:18:16,344 that she's someone who's capable of change. 1691 01:18:16,443 --> 01:18:19,906 ♪ ♪ 1692 01:18:20,005 --> 01:18:21,466 As a digital native, 1693 01:18:21,567 --> 01:18:25,627 it's exhausting to grow up and make mistakes 1694 01:18:25,729 --> 01:18:27,071 in front of everyone. 1695 01:18:27,170 --> 01:18:28,871 And not just the people who are looking at me right now, 1696 01:18:28,970 --> 01:18:31,953 but inevitably, the people who are looking at me in five years, 1697 01:18:32,054 --> 01:18:33,234 ten years... 1698 01:18:33,335 --> 01:18:35,536 The things you put on the internet are forever. 1699 01:18:36,216 --> 01:18:38,157 But... Hey! How's it going? 1700 01:18:38,256 --> 01:18:40,358 I founded GenZ Girl Gang 1701 01:18:40,457 --> 01:18:42,279 because social media can be used 1702 01:18:42,377 --> 01:18:44,402 as a community building tool. 1703 01:18:44,501 --> 01:18:47,162 As my generation gets older, 1704 01:18:47,263 --> 01:18:49,604 and we live more life documented, 1705 01:18:49,705 --> 01:18:53,567 I hope that--that we learn to live 1706 01:18:53,666 --> 01:18:55,488 with this technology, 1707 01:18:55,589 --> 01:18:57,769 and really live with it, right? 1708 01:18:57,868 --> 01:18:59,729 Live full lives with it. 1709 01:18:59,830 --> 01:19:02,652 Live our mistakes through it. 1710 01:19:02,752 --> 01:19:05,214 That we can all create the space for one another 1711 01:19:05,314 --> 01:19:07,435 to--to change. 1712 01:19:11,917 --> 01:19:15,180 [beatboxing] 1713 01:19:15,281 --> 01:19:18,183 SPENCER: The way that old Hollywood was 1714 01:19:18,282 --> 01:19:22,604 is very different than how new Hollywood is. 1715 01:19:23,885 --> 01:19:26,947 TikTok's so, so young that everything that's happening 1716 01:19:27,046 --> 01:19:28,348 is so fresh right now. 1717 01:19:28,448 --> 01:19:30,670 We're really gonna see who shines. 1718 01:19:30,770 --> 01:19:33,390 [beatboxing] 1719 01:19:33,491 --> 01:19:34,832 I have a lot of followers. 1720 01:19:34,933 --> 01:19:37,354 Like, right now, I have 54 million, 1721 01:19:37,455 --> 01:19:39,455 as of yesterday. 1722 01:19:42,817 --> 01:19:45,877 We follow you! Can you take a picture with my kids? 1723 01:19:45,979 --> 01:19:47,118 Oh, my God! 1724 01:19:47,220 --> 01:19:51,964 [all speak at once] 1725 01:19:52,063 --> 01:19:53,524 Don't cry. 1726 01:19:53,625 --> 01:19:54,885 I'm happy. 1727 01:19:54,984 --> 01:19:57,086 - I know. I'm happy too. - Aw. 1728 01:19:57,185 --> 01:19:58,006 No... 1729 01:19:58,107 --> 01:19:59,448 You're gonna make me cry. 1730 01:19:59,549 --> 01:20:01,689 [indistinct chatter] 1731 01:20:01,790 --> 01:20:03,970 [beatboxing] 1732 01:20:04,071 --> 01:20:06,091 My boy! 1733 01:20:06,192 --> 01:20:07,733 You guys have a great day, all right? 1734 01:20:07,832 --> 01:20:09,375 Thank you! That was awesome. 1735 01:20:09,474 --> 01:20:13,617 To me, I think, fame is that support you give people 1736 01:20:13,716 --> 01:20:18,099 that didn't really have it before you existed. 1737 01:20:18,198 --> 01:20:20,140 - I follow you. - Aw. 1738 01:20:20,241 --> 01:20:21,341 I will follow you guys back. 1739 01:20:21,442 --> 01:20:22,502 I follow you on TikTok. 1740 01:20:22,603 --> 01:20:24,944 I just put out a music video, like-- 1741 01:20:25,045 --> 01:20:27,265 - Uh-huh, I found it. - You did? Aw, thank you. 1742 01:20:27,366 --> 01:20:29,225 ♪ ♪ 1743 01:20:29,326 --> 01:20:33,309 I want kids to be like, "I know I can do that too. 1744 01:20:33,408 --> 01:20:36,671 I know there's a chance out there." 1745 01:20:36,772 --> 01:20:39,393 I would've never dreamed, in a million years, 1746 01:20:39,493 --> 01:20:42,354 it would happen like this. 1747 01:20:42,455 --> 01:20:45,817 TikTok has really changed my entire life. 1748 01:20:48,859 --> 01:20:50,960 And I--I think if I wanna speak 1749 01:20:51,060 --> 01:20:53,603 to anyone out there that ever has a dream 1750 01:20:53,702 --> 01:20:57,724 and think that it's too crazy... 1751 01:20:57,823 --> 01:21:01,086 too crazy to accomplish, uh, you can do it. 1752 01:21:01,185 --> 01:21:02,728 You can--you can do anything that you want. 1753 01:21:02,827 --> 01:21:05,710 Sorry. 1754 01:21:06,109 --> 01:21:08,051 ♪ ♪ 1755 01:21:08,152 --> 01:21:10,532 It's--it's so, it's so weird for me, 'cause, like, being 1756 01:21:10,631 --> 01:21:15,455 a beatboxer... it was so hard for me to be accepted. 1757 01:21:15,555 --> 01:21:18,657 And... [sniffles] 1758 01:21:18,756 --> 01:21:22,520 [exhales] 1759 01:21:25,560 --> 01:21:28,604 I'm just really, really glad I never gave up. 1760 01:21:33,367 --> 01:21:35,549 FAREZA: It's graduation day. 1761 01:21:35,648 --> 01:21:37,469 I'm definitely nervous, 1762 01:21:37,569 --> 01:21:40,310 I'm trying to wear my Afghan sash 1763 01:21:40,411 --> 01:21:42,433 to graduation. 1764 01:21:42,532 --> 01:21:44,193 I was told that I can't wear the sash 1765 01:21:44,292 --> 01:21:47,975 because it goes against dress code. 1766 01:21:49,537 --> 01:21:53,238 But I'm sure that no matter what people say about me, 1767 01:21:53,339 --> 01:21:55,841 at the end of the day I'm proud I'm Afghan 1768 01:21:55,942 --> 01:21:57,942 and there's no other human being like me. 1769 01:21:59,823 --> 01:22:01,323 Take a lot. Just tap a lot. 1770 01:22:01,424 --> 01:22:02,805 And if it glitches, use your phone. 1771 01:22:02,906 --> 01:22:05,086 ♪ ♪ 1772 01:22:05,185 --> 01:22:07,969 It feels a little embarrassing to see, like, my mom 1773 01:22:08,068 --> 01:22:10,930 and the whole family, like, celebrating me graduating, 1774 01:22:11,031 --> 01:22:13,853 'cause I'm like, "Ugh, it's not that big of a deal." 1775 01:22:13,952 --> 01:22:15,653 But then I look back at them, and I'm like... 1776 01:22:15,752 --> 01:22:18,415 Honestly, it is, 'cause I'm the first female 1777 01:22:18,515 --> 01:22:21,377 in my family to graduate high school. 1778 01:22:21,478 --> 01:22:24,299 My mother, she went to elementary school, 1779 01:22:24,399 --> 01:22:27,902 but then, once the violence in Kabul, Afghanistan, 1780 01:22:28,001 --> 01:22:31,223 got too much, she had to be taken out at third grade. 1781 01:22:31,323 --> 01:22:33,264 I'm the first anyone in my family 1782 01:22:33,363 --> 01:22:35,366 to even go to college now. 1783 01:22:46,612 --> 01:22:48,113 [cheering and applause] 1784 01:22:48,214 --> 01:22:50,156 MAN: Welcome to graduation. 1785 01:22:50,255 --> 01:22:53,558 We're the class of 2021. 1786 01:22:53,657 --> 01:22:55,917 ♪ ♪ 1787 01:22:56,018 --> 01:22:59,080 I didn't expect myself to go viral 1788 01:22:59,180 --> 01:23:02,723 and be this activist. 1789 01:23:02,823 --> 01:23:07,165 What inspired me to speak up was seeing those around me 1790 01:23:07,265 --> 01:23:08,446 staying silent. 1791 01:23:08,546 --> 01:23:11,768 ♪ ♪ 1792 01:23:11,868 --> 01:23:13,569 SPEAKER: Feroza Aziz. 1793 01:23:13,670 --> 01:23:15,850 [cheering and applause] 1794 01:23:15,951 --> 01:23:20,335 I wanna do more in the future on human rights issues, 1795 01:23:20,434 --> 01:23:23,376 and I wanna do more than just speaking on social media. 1796 01:23:23,475 --> 01:23:25,058 I actually wanna physically help. 1797 01:23:25,157 --> 01:23:27,497 ♪ ♪ 1798 01:23:27,598 --> 01:23:28,500 SPEAKER: Congratulations. 1799 01:23:28,599 --> 01:23:32,541 [cheering and whistling] 1800 01:23:32,640 --> 01:23:33,782 ♪ ♪ 1801 01:23:33,881 --> 01:23:35,063 [speaks in foreign language] 1802 01:23:35,162 --> 01:23:37,165 Thank you. 1803 01:23:46,491 --> 01:23:49,513 TAYLOR: TikTok has infiltrated American culture, 1804 01:23:49,612 --> 01:23:51,193 the Hollywood and entertainment system, 1805 01:23:51,292 --> 01:23:54,274 and--and politics, and all of these different facets 1806 01:23:54,375 --> 01:23:57,837 of American life in--in such a deep way. 1807 01:23:57,935 --> 01:23:59,957 There's very legitimate reasons to think critically 1808 01:24:00,058 --> 01:24:03,040 about the impact that this massive tech conglomerate 1809 01:24:03,140 --> 01:24:06,242 is having on America and it's really important 1810 01:24:06,341 --> 01:24:08,045 to think about issues around data privacy 1811 01:24:08,144 --> 01:24:09,925 with all of these tech platforms. 1812 01:24:10,024 --> 01:24:11,527 It's called the Log Off movement, 1813 01:24:11,626 --> 01:24:13,127 and it's a nonprofit organisation. 1814 01:24:13,228 --> 01:24:14,648 It's really been started by kids, 1815 01:24:14,747 --> 01:24:17,408 for ways to promote healthy ways to exist 1816 01:24:17,509 --> 01:24:18,729 on social media. 1817 01:24:18,830 --> 01:24:20,732 I'm really inspired by the Log Off movement, 1818 01:24:20,831 --> 01:24:24,054 they're a group of high school students 1819 01:24:24,154 --> 01:24:25,335 from all over the planet. 1820 01:24:25,434 --> 01:24:26,734 They're not just telling people 1821 01:24:26,835 --> 01:24:29,098 to spend less time on the apps. 1822 01:24:29,197 --> 01:24:32,580 They're pushing back by talking to members of Congress, 1823 01:24:32,679 --> 01:24:35,581 by talking to people at the platforms themselves, 1824 01:24:35,680 --> 01:24:38,344 to try to change how these systems are built. 1825 01:24:38,443 --> 01:24:41,224 Companies like TikTok need to be watched, 1826 01:24:41,323 --> 01:24:42,866 they need to be held accountable 1827 01:24:42,965 --> 01:24:44,706 the same way that we hold 1828 01:24:44,805 --> 01:24:46,808 other institutions of power accountable. 1829 01:24:48,089 --> 01:24:49,429 NEWSCASTER: TikTok has tightened 1830 01:24:49,529 --> 01:24:50,830 the privacy measures. 1831 01:24:50,930 --> 01:24:53,272 Anybody under 15 will automatically have 1832 01:24:53,372 --> 01:24:54,634 a private account. 1833 01:24:54,733 --> 01:24:57,194 Federal regulators have already ordered the app 1834 01:24:57,295 --> 01:25:01,337 to disclose how its practices do effect young people. 1835 01:25:01,737 --> 01:25:04,679 SHELLY: Personally, I don't think it's fair to single out 1836 01:25:04,779 --> 01:25:08,241 an individual company just because it's popular. 1837 01:25:08,341 --> 01:25:10,563 Personally, I think it makes more sense to pass 1838 01:25:10,662 --> 01:25:13,444 cohesive laws against all companies, 1839 01:25:13,545 --> 01:25:15,765 so that not only can TikTok not do some of this, 1840 01:25:15,866 --> 01:25:18,167 so neither can Facebook or Google, or Amazon 1841 01:25:18,268 --> 01:25:21,250 or any other companies, regardless of nationality. 1842 01:25:21,349 --> 01:25:23,371 [beatboxing] 1843 01:25:23,470 --> 01:25:26,252 If the story ended today, I would say, hands down, 1844 01:25:26,353 --> 01:25:28,354 TikTok won. 1845 01:25:30,234 --> 01:25:33,058 All the Trump ban did was make TikTok even bigger, 1846 01:25:33,157 --> 01:25:35,339 because it caused people to download the app, 1847 01:25:35,438 --> 01:25:36,698 it caused people to talk about it, 1848 01:25:36,799 --> 01:25:38,580 and so all it did was create more growth 1849 01:25:38,680 --> 01:25:40,902 and more revenue for this Chinese company 1850 01:25:41,002 --> 01:25:43,502 that is even bigger in the US than it was 1851 01:25:43,603 --> 01:25:45,845 when Trump first started going after it. 1852 01:25:46,885 --> 01:25:49,627 Now, the story's not over. 1853 01:25:49,728 --> 01:25:50,868 [beatboxing] 1854 01:25:50,969 --> 01:25:53,911 ♪ Everybody wants to be somebody ♪ 1855 01:25:54,010 --> 01:25:57,473 ♪ Everybody wants to be somebody ♪ 1856 01:25:57,572 --> 01:26:00,514 ♪ Everybody... wants to be somebody ♪ 1857 01:26:00,613 --> 01:26:02,635 [beatboxing] 1858 01:26:02,734 --> 01:26:04,737 ♪ Everybody ♪ 1859 01:26:06,018 --> 01:26:08,099 ♪ To be somebody ♪ 1860 01:26:28,952 --> 01:26:32,415 ♪ Everybody wants to be somebody ♪ 1861 01:26:32,514 --> 01:26:36,015 ♪ Everybody wants to be somebody ♪ 1862 01:26:36,116 --> 01:26:39,537 ♪ Everybody wants to be somebody ♪ 1863 01:26:39,638 --> 01:26:42,420 ♪ Everybody wants to be somebody ♪ 1864 01:26:42,520 --> 01:26:46,483 [beatboxing] 1865 01:26:51,406 --> 01:26:53,466 ...generations before us to have the same power 1866 01:26:53,567 --> 01:26:55,710 as we do now, and that's technology. 1867 01:26:55,809 --> 01:26:56,627 You have power. 1868 01:26:56,729 --> 01:26:57,991 You can create change. 1869 01:26:58,090 --> 01:26:59,911 [beatboxing] 1870 01:27:00,011 --> 01:27:02,912 [pop song playing] 1871 01:27:03,013 --> 01:27:09,018 ♪ ♪