In the US, the TikTok video app faces a forced sale or ban due to possible Chinese influence. In Germany, leading sports associations enter into official partnerships with the network.
US President Joe Biden signed a law on Wednesday (April 24, 2024) aimed at bringing about changes in TikTok's ownership. China-based company Bydatance is expected to sell the app within a year – otherwise the app will be banned. The company is 60 percent owned by Western investors and headquartered in the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. Challenge the law.
DOSB and DFB go Partnerships with the platform
On Wednesday, the German Olympic Sports Confederation announced that TikTok will be a long-term partner of “Team Germany.” The collaboration includes the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 and the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. “This collaboration is aimed at encouraging youth for the Olympic and Paralympic movement,” the DOSB said. It is important to reach a young target group.
At the end of March, the German Football Association (DFB) announced a collaboration with the video platform, which also includes the home European Championship. German footballers' contributions now include “paid partnerships”. Neither association has publicly provided any information on potential charges from TikTok.
Tik Tok is very popular among young people. Other ARD offerings such as Sportschau and Tagesschau also distribute content on the platform. More recently, Chancellor Olaf Scholes also opened an account on TikTok.
Criticism of TikTok in Germany too
But there is also criticism on stage in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) warned on Wednesday about spying from China. “Germany is watching very closely how decision-making processes take place in the US and what results are achieved there,” BfV Vice President Sinan Selen Selen said in Berlin. Then you think about your own decisions. In many US states and several European countries, government employees are banned from using TikTok on workplace cell phones.
Fear: TikTok operators may use app to collect data used in China In late 2022, TikTok admitted to using the personal data of journalists who reported critically on TikTok.
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