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āWeāre giving education a dedicated homeā: TikTok launches STEM feed in Australia
While the potential TikTok ban looms in the US, locally, the platform is continuing to grow with the launch of an independent STEM feed.
Rolling out throughout January, the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) feed will provide Australiaās 8.5 million TikTok users with a dedicated feed for discovery, education, and entertainment.
To ensure the feed is reliable and accurate, TikTok has partnered with independent organisations Common Sense Networks and Poynter Institute as part of a triple-layer fact-checking process.
After videos or accounts are firstly identified by TikTok, the two organisations will independently assess the content to ensure it is appropriate, before itās featured on the STEM feed. If the content does not pass all three checkpoints, it will not be eligible.
Over 500 Aussie STEM creators will be among those featured on the feed, including author and social media personality Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, astrophysicist Dr Kirsten Banks, and microscopic interrogator Walt Carroll.
It will also feature a number of organisations including SEA LIFE Sydney, the Australian Museum, and emergency services such as the NSW Rural Fire Service.
Sony Pictures is clearly not happy with Meta and Mark Zuckerberg and their lobbying to ban Tik Tok.
The Supreme Court ruled against TikTok on Friday rejecting the companyās First Amendment challenge to a law that effectively bans it starting on Sunday.
The unanimous decision may deal a death blow to the U.S. operations of the wildly popular app, which serves up short-form videos that are a leading source of information and entertainment to 170 million Americans, especially younger ones.
When the law goes into effect, the onus will not be on TikTok, but on app stores to stop making the social media platform available to users. Presumably, those who already have the app installed would be able to continue to use it, but they would not be able to receive routine updates, something that eventually would make it unworkable.
Trump tried to force a sale of TikTok in his first term, but opposes the new law, even though it passed with huge majorities of Republicans and Democrats. He cannot stop the law, short of new congressional legislation, but he could ask the Justice Department not to enforce it. There were reports that he is considering an executive order to suspend enforcement for 60 to 90 days.
I couldnāt believe millions of Americans did not even check the background of the owner of Tiktok before they even registered. And days before the US Supreme Court decision, some of them migrated to another Chinese app called Xiaohungshu (Rednote) which is subject to even more Chinese government sponsorship. Just dumb.
Facebook, Instagram and X may have their own flaws (lack of moderation for example) but at least the usersā personal data are stored in USA.
Two words: Cambridge Analytica.
Facebook and now Twitter have done more harm to the US than Tik Tok has.
From what Iāve read, a considerable part of the move are done as to raise a middle finger to the US government (and the tech companies that are embracing Trump and arguably are offering much closer alternatives to TikTok?)ā¦
I canāt make sense of those who sees the app as a new bastion for free speech though, considering
A) Itās under Chinaās strict moderation, both inside and outside the app (there are some examples of LGBT content and, ironically, more ideologically-motivated ones like āexchanging socialist ideas on revolutionā or āwhich Western media report on China do you find untrue?ā that prompted them to the platform being removed);
B) Non-white minorities are not welcomed on the platform, with Hitler salutes commented under a Jewish influencer, for example; and
B) Its Chinese name itself can be traced back to the personality cult publications in 1960s Maoist China, which is really stretching the lengths of āfreeā speech.
AFAIK I think the highest-profile celebrity that moved there is Jimmy O Yang (the Chinese-American comedian)? Which makes sense given how he talked about some fans knowing him from TikTok plus his personal background.
From my previous exposure with this app in local media, I feel like itās a platform for dumb acts too, as Mainland Chinese tourists share ātipsā on the weirdest photogenic spots in HK thereā¦
I mean, people still use X and Meta apps despite them being owned by people with questionable ethics.
Really? Do you check the owner of every app you use on your phone? I canāt say I ever have but I have deleted some suss ones after learning they might be shonky.
Itās official - TikTok is off in the US
Excellent news!
Why is that excellent news? Sorry but tiktok is used by people other than political crap and so called Chinese spying.
Whether you like it or not. Punishing those who use it responsible for a just cause. I will always have a problem with these sorry of bans because there has been a hint of misinformation about the company because of certain populist beliefs about Chinese people.
TikTok and social media in general is the cause of so much pain and suffering, especially to young people. Itās responsible for children harming and even killing themselves and provides an outlet for kids to bully each other online.
Itās a cesspit and this event is very much celebrated in my eyes. Hopefully they take down the others sooner rather than later.
There was never this many mental health issues before the internet and more importantly, social media came along.
A social media platform without Yanks sounds like heaven.
Here i am playing the worlds smallest violin for all those Yanks without Tiktok. 
True. But there was also not the internet and social media to educate people, remove the stigma and give people the information, networks and help to work through many aspects of mental health
When I was mentally unwell and in relationships with mentally unwell people - the internet was a god send. I would not have made it otherwise
I donāt think thatās necessarily true. We just hear about it more now.
The best thing about social media is that it gives everyone a voice. The worst thing about social mediaā¦ is that it gives everyone a voice.