Love it or hate it, there is no denying the popularity of the ever-so controversial video app TikTok. The app has over 500 million active users and was the second most downloaded app in 2019. While the app is extremely popular among many, the list of people who detest the app is also sizeable. One such entry on the list is Steve Huffman, CEO of popular website Reddit.
Huffman was part of a one-day conference called “Social 2030” put on by Lightspeed Venture Partners and former Facebook VP of Product Sam Lessin’s VC firm Slow Ventures, aimed to highlight and identify trends in social apps that would be shaping the next decade of the space. When asked about whether the Silicon Valley-based startups could fetch something from the feature innovations of TikTok, Huffman responded in not so kind words, calling the app “fundamentally parasitic.”
The comments were made in front of a large group of Silicon Valley investors and entrepreneurs gathered for the conference. Huffman further went on to say that, “Maybe I’m going to regret this, but I can’t even get to that level of thinking with them Because I look at that app as so fundamentally parasitic, that it’s always listening, the fingerprinting technology they use is truly terrifying, and I could not bring myself to install an app like that on my phone,”
Huffman also labeled the app as “spyware”, stressing that he always recommends people to not download the app.
TikTok has exploded in popularity but has drawn criticism for its handling of user data. As a damage-control measure, TikTok recently introduced revised parental controls in the UK, to make it easier for adults to supervise how their children use the app. A new family safety mode will link a parent’s account of their child’s. The feature will enable parents to control the amount of screen time allowed on TikTok, who can directly message the account and restrict types of content that appear in the feed of their child’s account.
The social media platform’s head of trust and safety in Europe, Cormac Keenan said recently that the app had worked with some of the platform’s most popular figures to introduce the prompts. He said they would ‘remind our community to be aware of the time they spend on TikTok and to encourage them to consider taking some time out’. Writing in a blog post announcing the new safety features, Mr. Keenan said: ‘When people use TikTok, we know they expect an experience that is fun, authentic, and safe.
While the choice of words may have been a bit surprising, TikTok is not alien to allegations of such kind. The app has been on the radar of government agencies for a while now. It has faced lawsuits in the US over the alleged harvesting of user data and sending it to servers in China.
