EXCLUSIVE: TikTok stars with more than 37M followers are moving to rival Triller as they say they feel unsafe over data sharing reports after Trump says he is looking at banning the app
- Josh Richards, Griffin Johnson and Noah Beck said they came to a collective decision to slowly withdraw from TikTok a few months ago
- The concern began after they became aware of claims the app’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, shares user data with the Chinese government
- The concerns of the three viral video creators have also been shared by numerous government officials and lawmakers in recent weeks
- President Trump announced Wednesday that the US is considering banning the social media platform all together
- The three creatives, who have a combined following of nearly 38 million, say they will instead be platforming their content on TikTok rival Triller
- They said the reports of data sharing made them feel 'unsafe', not only for them but for the millions of people who interact with their videos every day
- Richards called for an investigation to be conducted into the social media giant, to better understand how it works and to aid transparency for its users
Three TikTok stars with a combined following of nearly 38 million have revealed that they intend to quit the app and move to rival Triller, amid mounting fears the video-sharing platform could be used by China to spy on Americans.
Josh Richards, Griffin Johnson and Noah Beck told disclosed to DailyMail.com they came to a collective decision to slowly withdraw from TikTok a few months ago after becoming aware of reports the app’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, could be sharing user data with the Chinese government.
The concerns of the three viral video creators have also been shared by numerous government officials and lawmakers in recent weeks, leading President Trump to announce Wednesday that the US is considering banning the social media platform all together.
‘Obviously it made us feel a bit unsafe about the app we were using,’ Josh Richards said of the data-sharing reports. ‘But it was more than just how we felt. We wanted our audience to be watching our content on an app that’s safe.’
Determined to find out more about how TikTok operates, the three creatives say they began conducting their own research by speaking to industry leaders, tech experts and government officials – and what they found was ‘worse than we ever imagined.’
Josh Richards (near left), Griffin Johnson (right) and Noah Beck (far left) said they came to a collective decision to slowly withdraw from TikTok a few months ago after becoming aware of reports the app’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, could be sharing user data with the Chinese government
TikTok was originally used to create short dance, lip-sync, comedy and talent videos, and said last year about 60 percent of its 26.5 million monthly active US users are aged 16 to 24.
Its widespread popularity among American teens has brought scrutiny from US regulators and lawmakers who fear their personal information could fall into the hands of government officials in Beijing.
The concern stems from a Chinese law introduced in 2017 that states all native companies have an obligation 'to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.’
Highlighting their own fears, Richards, Johnson and Beck cited an investigation published by Penetrum earlier this year, which warned that ‘37.70% of the known IP addresses linked to TikTok are Chinese’, which the country’s government has access to.
Penetrum, a cyber-security research firm, also described the ‘excessive amount of data harvesting, vulnerabilities in TikTok’s code, as well as a few things that may make you feel pretty uncomfortable.’
Such other elements were said to include secret coding designed to capture all data on a user’s phone, which could even potentially give the app access to all of a user’s text messages.
While TikTok has routinely denied sharing data with the Chinese government, Richards, Johnson and Griffin say the company has 'broken' their trust, as numerous reports have surfaced since the turn of the year suggesting otherwise.
‘As a creator, it’s our responsibility to think about the people that follow us. They give us the lifestyle we now lead – it’s all because of them. If we’re not thinking about their best interests, that shows a lot about us,’ Richards said.
The three stars also said they were left troubled by claims that TikTok had allegedly blocked videos pertaining to the Black Lives Matter movement, in the weeks after George Floyd’s Memorial Day death at the hands of Minnesota police.
‘TikTok – and social media platforms generally - are supposed to be a place where people can put out their ideas and beliefs,’ Richards said. ‘When we saw such a strong movement, getting blocked or shadow banned – that concerned us quite a bit. They weren’t taking those voices very seriously at all.’
TikTok later blamed the occurrence on an apparent technical glitch that made it temporarily appear as if posts with the hashtags #BlackLivesMatter and #GeorgeFloyd received no views.
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‘Tik Tok – and social media platforms generally - are supposed to be a place where people can put out their ideas and beliefs,’ Richards said. ‘When we saw such a strong movement, getting blocked or shadow banned – that concerned us quite a bit. They weren’t taking those voices very seriously at all'
In light of the successive troubling reports concerning TikTok, Griffin Johnson said the he, Richards and Beck, all came to a collective decision to start platforming their videos elsewhere.
‘We all saw an issue,’ Johnson said. ‘So we all came together and we tried to find a solution.’
The three creatives say the first considered developing their own app, but then met with Triller – an entertainment platform similar to TikTok, but with a ‘creators-first’ ethos.
Johnson, Richards and Beck say they’ll all be slowly withdrawing from TikTok over the coming months, and make Triller their primary source of output.
When quizzed by DailyMail.com whether leaving TikTok, a platform on which they’ve amassed millions of followers and each established their own brands, is a substantial risk, Johnson replied: ‘This is way bigger than just us or the platforms we have.
‘We have the opportunity to do something far bigger than us. It’s important to look after our audience’s safety. That’s much more important to me, than me.’
‘I feel like, we’re just trying to set an example of what would be to do right now, and that’s Triller,’ added Richards. ‘I think other influencers will agree that it’s best for themselves and that people that follow them too.’
The three friends said one of the catalysts behind their decision to side with Triller stems from the fact the company, which is based in Los Angeles, is ‘made in America’, and stores its data in the US, and on back-up servers in the United Kingdom.
Founded by David Leiberman in 2015, the brand is also backed by a number of A-listers, including Snoop Dogg, the Weeknd, Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar.
‘We’re really excited [for the next chapter,’ Johnson said. ‘This is a great opportunity and it gives us a lot of purpose. I know I feel really safe and we’re really excited where this journey is headed.’
When quizzed by DailyMail.com whether leaving TikTok, a platform on which they’ve amassed millions of followers and each established their own brands, is a substantial risk, Johnson (left) replied: ‘This is way bigger than just us or the platforms we have'
TikTok, meanwhile, which is not available for download in China, has routinely sought to distance itself from its Chinese roots to continue appeal to a global audience.
TikTok has said previously that it operates separately from ByteDance and claimed its data centers are located entirely outside of China, and that none of that data is therefore subject to Chinese law.
The app, which has been downloaded more than 175 million times in the US, says data of its American users is stored on servers in the US, and backed up in Singapore.
But in spite of the company’s claims, President Trump told reporters in the South Lawn Wednesday that ‘we’re looking at TikTok, we’re thinking about making a decision.’
The three friends said one of the catalysts behind their decision to side with Triller stems from the fact the company, which is based in Los Angeles, is ‘made in America’, and stores its data in the US, and on back-up servers in the United Kingdom
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who stood alongside Trump and addressed reporters, said TikTok is being looked at by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews deals by foreign acquirers for potential national security risks.
They could call for an all-out ban or force its Chinese parent company to divest it - a move which could see it valued at as much as $50 billion.
The move comes after Joe Biden's presidential campaign banned staffers from using the Chinese video sharing app, citing security and privacy concerns.
In a memo on Monday, Biden's general counsel, Dana Remus, ordered staff members to delete TikTok from both their personal and work phones, and to 'refrain from downloading and using TikTok,' according to Bloomberg.
TikTok has offered no immediate response to Trump and Mnuchin's announcement.
But hours earlier it pushed back at what it called 'maligning attacks' that call attention to the video app's Chinese connections - a coded reference to the inquiry.
President Trump told reporters in the South Lawn Wednesday that ‘we’re looking at TikTok, we’re thinking about making a decision'
Founder: ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, was founded by Zhang Yiming, who is accused of Communist party links
HOW DOES TIKTOK WORK?
- Users post videos of themselves and broadcast them on the app
- Anyone can find these videos and post comments on them
- It also allows you to message that person privately
- Some of the most popular videos are watched more than 10 million times
- Each TikTok video is generally 15 to 60 seconds long
- The videos are typically set to music, often showing the user dancing, doing a trick, or lip-syncing
TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer said the attacks were 'disguised as patriotism and designed to put an end to our very presence in the U.S.'
'We are not political, we do not accept political advertising and have no agenda -- our only objective is to remain a vibrant, dynamic platform for everyone to enjoy,' Mayer said.
'TikTok has become the latest target, but we are not the enemy.'
Mayer said TikTok has established a policy on transparency and added that it would go further than others by disclosing more about its internal algorithms.
'We believe all companies should disclose their algorithms, moderation policies, and data flows to regulators,' he said.
TikTok has already been banned by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security, as well as on government-issued mobile devices used by the US Army and US Navy.
A class action lawsuit filed in the US late last year also claimed that TikTok came pre-loaded with Chinese surveillance software.
'TikTok clandestinely has vacuumed up and transferred to servers in China vast quantities of private and personally-identifiable user data that can be employed to identify, profile, and track the location and activities of users in the United States now and in the future,' the lawsuit read.
'TikTok also has surreptitiously taken user content, such as draft videos never intended for publication, without user knowledge or consent. In short, TikTok's lighthearted fun comes at a heavy cost.'
The app was also recently banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps, with similar measures said to be under consideration in Australia too.
Amid the growing calls from various US officials to pull the plug on TikTok for good, Richards called for an investigation to be conducted into the social media giant, to better understand how it works and to aid transparency for its users.
TikTok has not yet responded to a DailyMail.com request for comment.
