WASHINGTON: TikTok, the most widely used free app in the US, has recently made headlines not for its content but for allegedly being affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party.
Earlier, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before the US Congress to face a barrage of questions from lawmakers about the app’s links to its Chinese parent company ByteDance and the extent of China’s access to its data.
The platform is one of many Chinese-owned mobile applications to succeed in Western markets.
According to analytics company Apptopia, three more of the top 10 free mobile apps in the United States are reportedly owned by Chinese companies. Also, two of them rank among the top downloads in the UK.
CapCut
According to Sensor Tower, the video editing app CapCut was downloaded 13 million times in the US in February alone. It is frequently promoted as a companion editor for TikTok content makers. The video editing programme is designed for on-the-go mobile editing. It offers a variety of tools like popular song addition, filters, and special effects intended to make your videos go viral. The parent firm of TikTok, ByteDance, also owns CapCut.
Shein
According to Forbes, Shein is a global fashion brand founded in 2012 and now boasts a nearly $15 billion valuation. It is headquartered in Singapore and was founded by Chinese billionaire Chris Xu.
On TikTok and Instagram, a fast search of the #Shein hashtag will turn up hundreds of videos from well-known influencers bragging about their most recent #Sheinhaul. It uses social media to reach GenZ consumers with thousands of daily new products at discount pricing.
Temu
Less than a year since this shopping app debuted in the US, it quickly outpaced Walmart and Amazon. The online superstore sells everything from electronics to apparel, allowing consumers to buy directly from the Chinese manufacturer bypassing warehouse stores.
Once the company advertised during this year’s Super Bowl, many Americans began searching “is Temu real” because of the meager rates.
Although the company is based in Boston, Massachusetts, it is a division of PDD Holdings, a major direct-to-consumer online retailer owned by China.
According to experts, the severe competition in China’s domestic market, where American apps are not allowed, contributes to the success of Chinese apps in the US.
According to Zeyi Yang, a researcher and journalist for the MIT Review who specialises in Chinese technology, “the tech businesses from China have had such an intense time of rivalry at home that has made them as better or good, in some aspects, than American apps.”
Some Chinese businesses have also been pioneers in developing user-centric recommendation algorithms, such as those utilised by TikTok and the instant messaging app WeChat.
TikTok is the first Chinese-owned app to experience significant success globally. But, Chinese-owned apps may be subject to control from the Chinese Communist Party and data privacy breaches, according to American lawmakers and national security experts.
Due to the same worry, the European Commission, the United Kingdom, and Canada have banned TikTok from government employees’ smartphones.
