TikTok is banned in China

China uses Douyin instead

Did you know that ByteDance's controversial social media app, TikTok, is banned in China? Instead, Chinese users have Douyin, also made by ByteDance, which has a similar user interface to TikTok.

Comparing TikTok and Douyin

So, what's the difference between Douyin and TikTok?

The main one is that while TikTok optimises for the content with the most engagement, i.e. the most addictive, Douyin focusses on morally uplifting content.

So what is "morally uplifting"? In practice this means content that perpetuates the rule of the Chinese Communist Party. (Every society is ruled by the ruling class, who act in their own class interest; China is no exception).

So the Chinese authorities use Douyin to disseminate propaganda. At theme time, Douyin has censored anti-regime opinions. e.g. they have removed accounts of economists who spoke negatively about China’s economy.

Apart from propaganda:

• Douyin favours educational and skill-improvement content

• Douyin removed conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, because they portrayed interfamily relations negatively

• Douyin introduced measures to prevent addiction for seniors

• For users under 14, use is restricted to 40 minutes per day under the “Minor Protection Law” and blocked between 10pm and 6am. This is to encourage young people into healthy study habits.

Another big difference between Douyin and TikTok is Douyin has in-app e-commerce functionality. This is very popular: in 2024, sales of 2.1 trillion RMB happened on the platform (equivalent to $294 bn, about 1.5% of China's GDP).

Why does China do this?

The advantages to China of having TikTok outside China are:

(1) It's a successful Chinese company that helps the Chinese economy.

(2) It can be used for propaganda (mostly by increasing/decreasing prominence of posts dependent on whether you favour/disfavour their message), so people outside China have a more pro-Chinese view than they otherwise would.

(3) It's a tool for spying: ByteDance has information about their users' wherabouts, likes, and when they use the app, etc. Combined with other information this become a great intelligence tool. (In intelligence, it is often the case that lots of small pieces of data, individually insignificant, can be pieced together to form useful information.)

There is also a more controversial possible fourth benefit:

(4) By pushing mindless addictive crap towards foreigners, it helps China to undermine the societies of potential enemies.

Personally I doubt if this figures in the decisions of the Chinese government, since there is plenty of non-Chinese social media that is full of mindless addictive crap.

The advantages to China of having Douyin inside China are:

(1) It helps shape peoples opinions, thus perpetuating the power of the ruling class.

(2) It genuinely improves society by having educational / self-improvement content.

What should countries outside China do?

Ban TikTok. It provides no socially improving functions and is harmful.

Something with Douyin's educational and self-improvement content would be nice, however.

Sources

• There Is No TikTok in China, but There Is Douyin. Here’s What It Is., New York Times

• Douyin vs TikTok: Same App? What are the Differences?, Marketing to China

• Douyin vs. TikTok: A Marketer’s Guide to Key Differences, Digital Crew