TikTok’s breakneck rise from niche video-sharing app to global social media behemoth has drawn intense scrutiny, particularly over its links to China.The platform faces accusations of espionage in the United States, while the European Union has launched an investigation into claims it was used to sway Romania’s presidential election in favour of a far right candidate.So is TikTok a spying tool for Beijing, a fun app, or both?- Romania influence campaign -The EU is probing whether far-right presidential candidate Calin Georgescu’s surprise victory in the first round of Romania’s presidential election was aided by Russian meddling and “preferential treatment” by TikTok.It is the third investigation the commission has launched against TikTok, which risks fines of up to six percent of its global turnover.The platform said it had taken “robust actions” to tackle election-related misinformation. Russia has denied interfering in the vote.- Under pressure -The United States in April passed a law obliging TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to sell off the platform by January 19 on the grounds it allowed China to access data on US users.If not, the platform would be banned in the United States — denying TikTok its claimed 170 million users in the countries.TikTok admitted ByteDance employees in China had accessed Americans’ data but it has denied giving data to the Chinese authorities.To protect data, the US government, the European Commission and Britain’s government had already banned TikTok from their employees’ work devices in 2023.- Teenage ban in Australia -But bans have not halted TikTok’s growth.With more than one billion active users worldwide, the platform is a phenomenon for young people attracted by its never-ending scroll of ultra-brief videos.Nearly a third of TikTok users are between 10 and 19 years old, according to the Wallaroo agency.But that success has brought accusations that the platform encourages the spread of misinformation and illegal, violent, or pornographic content, particularly among young people.TikTok was among the many platforms targeted by a landmark law passed in Australia in November banning under-16s from accessing social media.Social media firms that fail to comply with the law face fines of up to Aus$50 million (US$32.5 million) for “systemic breaches”.TikTok said it was “disappointed” by the Australian legislation, claiming it could push young people to the “darker corners of the internet”.- Opaque algorithm -Its editing features and powerful algorithm have kept it ahead of the game, attracting an army of creators and influencers as well as creating many of its own.But the algorithm is opaque and often accused of leading users into digital content silos.TikTok and ByteDance employees also manually increase the number of views on certain content, according to a report in Forbes.TikTok has said manual promotion only affects a tiny fraction of recommended videos.In August, the company, under pressure from EU regulators, was forced to ditch a feature in its TikTok Lite spinoff in France and Spain rewarding users for the time spent in front of their screens.In that rewards programme, users aged 18 and over could earn points to exchange for goods like vouchers or gift cards by liking and watching videos.It was accused by the EU of potentially having “very addictive consequences”.- Disinformation -The app is regularly accused of putting users in danger with the spread of hazardous “challenge” videos.Several children have reportedly died while trying to replicate the so-called blackout challenge, which involves users holding their breath until they pass out.And around one-fifth of videos on topical issues such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine were found to be fake or misleading in a study by misinformation group NewsGuard.AFP, along with more than a dozen fact-checking organisations, is paid by TikTok in several countries in Asia and Oceania, Europe, the Middle East and Spanish-speaking Latin America to verify for internal moderation videos that potentially contain false information. The videos are removed by TikTok if the information is shown to be false by AFP teams.

Major stock markets mostly fell Tuesday as attention turned to the US Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy decision, with traders hoping for guidance on its interest rate plans as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office.Wall Street’s major indices slid, with the Nasdaq Composite coming off a record high despite solid US retail sales data.”Investors are cashing in some of their profits ahead of Wednesday’s Fed rate decision at which a 25-basis-point rate cut is baked in,” said IG analyst Axel Rudolph.The Fed is widely expected to lower borrowing costs on Wednesday for the third meeting in a row as it looks to guide the world’s largest economy to a soft landing.But investors have already started paring their bets on how many times the Fed will cut over the next 12 months owing to still-sticky inflation, a strong labor market and uncertainty about Trump, who has pledged to slash taxes and impose tariffs on US imports.The reduction in the number of Fed interest rate cuts investors expect is evident in the rise in US Treasury yields, as they demand higher returns in expectation of fewer cuts.”US yields continue to rise as investors worry about the Fed pausing or slowing its monetary loosening cycle in 2025,” said Rudolph.The Fed statement and comments by its policymakers will be pored over for clues about next year’s outlook.- Tariffs fallout -The Canadian dollar fell to its lowest level against the US dollar since April 2020 after Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland quit Monday in a surprise move, saying she disagreed with PM Justin Trudeau over Trump’s tariff threats.The resignation of Freeland, who also stepped down as finance minister, marked the first open dissent against Trudeau from within his cabinet, and may threaten his hold on power.Investors are also keeping tabs on Beijing after Chinese leaders’ latest measures to kickstart the economy fell short of expectations, with weak retail sales data Monday reinforcing the need for more support.In European equities trading, London slid as official data showing a jump in UK wage growth cemented forecasts that the Bank of England will avoid cutting interest rates this week.Paris edged higher but Frankfurt dipped as sentiment was hit by news that German business confidence this month hit the lowest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.”The Ifo Business Climate Index published today speaks for itself: the German economy is in the midst of a crisis,” said CMC Markets analyst Konstantin Oldenburger.Bitcoin traded close to a record high of almost $107,791 reached Monday on continued optimism that Trump will introduce measures to deregulate the cryptocurrency market.Among individual companies, Pfizer jumped 4.8 percent as it projected slightly higher profits in 2025 compared with this year.- Key figures around 2150 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 43,449.90 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.4 percent at 6,050.61 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 20,109.06 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 8,195.20 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 7,365.70 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.3 percent at 20,246.37 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 39,364.68 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 19,700.48 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 3,361.49 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0498 from $1.0512 MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2707 from $1.2683Dollar/yen: DOWN at 153.41 yen from 154.15 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.52 pence from 82.88 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.9 percent at $70.08 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.0 percent at $73.19 per barrelburs-jmb/aha