TikTok launches transparency center after privacy concerns in US

TikTok is launching a content moderation center in an attempt to boost transparency. The decision comes as a response to the allegation of sharing user data with the Chinese government, leveled against TikTok by US lawmakers.

The company’s blog post read that the “Transparency Center” will be opened at TikTok’s Los Angeles office where external experts will look after its operations. The center would offer insights into the app’s source code, the internal instructions of the software, and provide more details on privacy and security.

Following the allegations against the Chinese social media giant, several US agencies that deal with national security and intelligence have also banned employees from using the app.

Citing security reasons, the US Navy banned the app in December from its government-issued mobile devices, calling it a “cybersecurity threat”. And later in December, TikTok published its first transparency report on the “volume and nature” of government’s requests for user-related information.

The Chinese company, however, rubbished the allegations by the revealing that the US user data is stored in the United States and that China does not have jurisdiction over content that is not in China.