TikTok is a social media app that is extremely popular for its ability to allow users to create and share short videos with a global audience. Its popularity is driven by creative content such as dancing and singing videos that capture the attention of millions of users around the world. However, what’s interesting is that despite TikTok’s global success, the app is banned in its parent company’s home country of China. In China, a similar app called Douyin is used instead of TikTok and remains under the same company, ByteDance. This difference suggests stricter regulation in the country. In my opinion, the ban on TikTok in China raises big questions about the double standards in the country’s information and technology policies.
Douyin, which launched in September 2016 in Beijing, China, was an early form of video-sharing social media innovation in the country. Originally known as A.me and later renamed Douyin, the app was developed by ByteDance as a platform for sharing short videos lasting 15 seconds to 3 minutes. The presence of Douyin is proof that China has a strategy for developing digital technology that is tailored to domestic policies and values. To expand the Chinese-owned app, which within a year had gained 100 million users in China, the founders of Douyin created an international version of the social media platform. They called it TikTok. TikTok launched in international markets in September 2017. In November 2017, TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, bought Shanghai-based startup Musical.ly. In a short time, TikTok was able to attract the attention of millions of users, which was reflected in the acquisition of 200 million users after purchasing Musical.ly in November 2017. Musical.ly, although originally from China, has had a huge influence in the Western market, especially with its headquarters in Santa Monica, California. The successful integration of the two platforms created TikTok as we know it today.
Although Douyin and TikTok are developed by the same Chinese parent company, the differences between them are significant and reflect a purposeful strategy of differentiating between domestic and international markets. One notable difference is the availability of the app TikTok is not accessible in China, while Douyin is aimed specifically at the domestic market. To understand this phenomenon, it is important to first look at the structure of internet regulation in China. The country is known to have a very strict internet censorship system, often dubbed the Great Firewall of China. The Chinese government has a very strict policy in controlling information circulating in cyberspace. The goal is not only to protect its citizens from information that is considered “dangerous”, but also to maintain social and political stability by the values of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In this context, it’s no wonder that global apps like Facebook, Google, and Twitter are banned in China. However, when China’s own companies, like ByteDance, create apps that penetrate the global market, the government remains consistent in enforcing domestic controls. TikTok, in the form it is known abroad, is considered too free for China’s domestic standards.
Douyin, the local version of TikTok, is similar but not the same. While both are owned by the same company, Douyin is only accessible to users in China and operates under very different rules. Content that appears on Douyin must comply with various censorship regulations set by the government. Videos that criticize the government and touch on sensitive issues such as Tibetan independence, Taiwan, or the 1989 Tiananmen tragedy are bound to be removed immediately or never aired at all. In addition, Douyin also limits the usage time for children and teenagers, restricting them from using the app for more than 40 minutes per day. This shows that the Chinese government not only wants to control information but also the digital behavior of its young generation.
Why is this distinction so important? Because it reflects the digital dualism approach adopted by China: one face for the outside world, and another face for domestic consumption. TikTok, with all its freedom and virality, is being used as China’s soft power tool to expand its cultural and technological influence around the world. However, the Chinese government doesn’t want the same freedoms imposed domestically. They fully understand the potential of social media to shape public opinion and mobilize the masses, as seen in various social movements around the world, from the Arab Spring to the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong. In other words, control over information is not just a matter of security, but also a matter of power.
The Irony becomes even more acute when TikTok faces pressure and restrictions in Western countries, especially the United States. The US government has accused TikTok of being a threat to national security due to the potential collection of user data by China-based companies. These concerns are compounded by legal provisions in China that require companies to cooperate with the government on matters of state security. This means that if the government requests access to data, companies cannot refuse. In a climate of heightened geopolitical competition between China and the US, TikTok has become a pawn in the digital war between the two major world powers. While the US wants to restrict TikTok for fear of spying by China, the Chinese government itself does not allow the app to be used by its citizens for fear of its people gaining too much freedom.
The differences between TikTok and Douyin are not only in terms of content but also technical and algorithmic features. Douyin is designed to feature more educational, nationalistic, and “safe” content for domestic users. The government even encourages content that promotes traditional virtues and state achievements. In contrast, TikTok is often dominated by viral trends, dance challenges, and sometimes absurd or provocative content. This creates the impression that China is “importing entertainment” abroad through TikTok while consuming “education and discipline” at home through Douyin. In this framework, TikTok is a cultural export product packaged to suit Western tastes and values, while Douyin is a domestic social engineering tool.
This phenomenon also reflects the way China views technology not just as an economic tool but also as an ideological one. The government is well aware that in the digital world, information is power. Who controls information controls perception and narrative. Therefore, although China wants to be a global technology leader, it still maintains the principle of “digital sovereignty”, which is the right to control the national digital ecosystem without foreign interference. By restricting TikTok domestically and developing a domestic version that is subject to strict control, China wants to show that it can conquer the global market without having to sacrifice its domestic principles.
This policy certainly raises pros and cons. On the one hand, China’s approach can be seen as a form of protection against the negative influence of social media, such as digital addiction, the spread of false information, and moral decadence. Many other countries have also begun to take similar steps in the form of social media regulations, although not as strict as China. On the other hand, this approach also creates a repressive environment, where freedom of expression and creativity are stifled by the fear of censorship. These restrictions indicate that the government does not fully trust its citizens to access and assess information independently.
Ultimately, China’s restrictions on TikTok reveal that while cyberspace may seem free and limitless, it is controlled by very real political forces. The app was made in China, but not for free China. Instead, it was made for a world that can be reached and influenced, while still maintaining a strict ideological line within the country. TikTok is a symbol of the complexity of the digital age, where technology, power, and national identity collide on a single mobile screen.
