TikTok has achieved an incredible level of popularity over the past year or so, with countless users joining it every single day. However, the apps rise to success has not been without controversy. The latest scandal that is hitting the social media and video sharing app has to do with the fact that a lot of users are complaining about the fact that TikTok has been using their images and videos in its advertising campaigns.
The second problem has to do with privacy. Users would not want their videos or content being used to market something without their permission, because they would not necessarily want to be viewed as endorsing any particular product. Users would also want their privacy to be ensured, and having their content used without their permission is definitely an infringement of their privacy.
This might create quite a bit of contention between users and the platform that they are operating on, and this will definitely be a PR disaster for TikTok. It remains to be seen whether this will have a serious impact on the app or whether this will fade away as time goes by.
Photo: BigStock
Read next: Curious what TikTok app is adding in its new update? Let’s find out!
"Elijah Jay wants internet stardom, almost anywhere he can get it, just not as a TikTok salesman. But that’s exactly what he became when the social media company used one of his videos in an ad that ran on Snapchat.", revealed AdAge team in a blog post.There are two main problems that people tend to have with this act. One problem has to do with the fact that most of the users that have gone viral off of TikTok are influencers or at the very least content creators who use TikTok as a platform to connect with their audiences. This means that they are trying to earn money from the content that they create, and if their likeness is being used in order to market something, even if the marketing is indeed being done for the very platform that they happen to be working on, then they deserve to be given some kind of compensation for this.
The second problem has to do with privacy. Users would not want their videos or content being used to market something without their permission, because they would not necessarily want to be viewed as endorsing any particular product. Users would also want their privacy to be ensured, and having their content used without their permission is definitely an infringement of their privacy.
- Also read: TikTok Declares Ban on Political Ads
This might create quite a bit of contention between users and the platform that they are operating on, and this will definitely be a PR disaster for TikTok. It remains to be seen whether this will have a serious impact on the app or whether this will fade away as time goes by.
Photo: BigStock
Read next: Curious what TikTok app is adding in its new update? Let’s find out!
