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The PRemise: What a TikTok Crackdown Could Mean for Brands and PR

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In May this year, House Rep. Bienvenido Abante, Jr. filed House Bill 10489 seeking to ban applications deemed controlled by foreign countries that can be potential enemies of the state. The proposed measure covers apps such as TikTok and seeks to prohibit the distribution, maintenance and update of any such application within the country.

Aimed at protecting Filipinos, this proposed legislation looks into regulating such apps and related services, noting that in the case of TikTok, the connection of ByteDance to the Chinese national government and the Communist Party is something that cannot be brushed aside. With ByteDance having access to user information, including sensitive personal data, these information can be collected and used by the Chinese government for its purposes. In the US, where hearings on the prohibition of TikTok have started, such concerns about access to user data have been connected to growing misinformation.

House Bill 10489 also seeks to disallow internet hosting services supporting applications controlled by foreign countries deemed as adversaries. According to Rep. Abante, this would restrict new downloads of and interaction with the content of such apps. Those found to be distributing, maintaining or updating these apps will be fined P5 million to P10 million and face six years to 12 years of imprisonment. Those providing internet hosting services will be fined P500,000 to P4 million and imprisoned for three years to six years.

The measure aims to empower the government to prevent foreign countries that may be adversarial to the Philippines from using applications or other modern innovations to endanger national security. The president will be given authority under the proposed measure to determine an adversarial country as threat to the nation.

It’s a TikTok world

If you have not heard of TikTok nor seen any of the app’s videos, you’re probably living under a rock, would be called cheugy and would not win any aura points.

TikTok has more than 1 billion active users monthly worldwide at present, making it one of the most popular and fastest-growing platforms to date. Downloads last year hit 733 million, estimated Sensor Tower. Downloads on both iOS and Android for Q1 2024 alone reached 137 million. Even Facebook and Instagram took longer than TikTok, which was launched only in 2016, to win so huge a following within such a short period of time.

In social media-savvy Philippines, it is no surprise that TikTok has a strong – and growing — follower base. Recent statistics show there are 49.09 million Filipinos, or 41 percent of the population, that are active TikTok users. TikTok is among the most visited websites in the country, with about 70 percent of Filipinos 16 to 64 years old saying it is the social media platform that they use the most. Last year, the Philippines was one of the top eight countries with the most number of TikTok users from the 18 years old and above range. Indeed, the #philippines hashtag on TikTok has 10.4 million posts and 60.3 billion views!

Impact growing deeper and wider

What’s more noteworthy outside of the numbers is how TikTok’s impact continues to deepen and broaden. Entertainment remains the number one use, with short-form videos showing dance and lip-sync challenges, pranks, cute pets and ordinary people doing crazy things the most widely viewed.

But the platform has expanded into the other spheres of people’s everyday lives. In fact, more users are going to the app for infotainment.

Many are also turning to TikTok to research about products and brands, meaning the platform has also penetrated the economic side of things. TikTok is increasingly becoming a platform for online shopping. Because of this, companies and brands are using the app to promote or advertise their products and services.

Because why not? Filipino users spend hours on end on the app, making it an effective way to reach a wider range of audiences and introduce new products. A study commissioned by TikTok revealed that 93 percent of Filipino users were motivated by or bought a product after seeing it on the app.

In the Philippines, the ad potential reach is equivalent to 41 percent of the population. That’s easily a huge reach. The Digital 2024 Philippines report from We Are Social and Meltwater shows that TikTok ads reached 64.4 percent of Filipino users 18 years old and above at the start of this year versus overall population aged 18 years old and above. The potential ad reach rose by 5.7 million or 13 percent from early 2023 to early 2024, with the increase from October 2023 to January 2024 at 9.2 million or 23.2 percent. The total potential reach of ads on TikTok as of January 2024 was 49.09 million.

With TikTok’s huge — and growing — user base and Filipinos averaging 40 hours on the app a month (higher than the time they spent on YouTube and Facebook), companies and PR professionals know they have this much opportunity to bolster awareness about products and brands, connect with their target audiences and strengthen their market footprint. Many companies have made the most of TikTok virality to engage their followers much more strongly. Local fashion and beauty brands have made much business headway using TikTok.

The app’s capability to deliver personalized content care of its algorithm that factors in users’ preferences and previous activities on the platform allows for PR and marketing content to hit a wider population within a short period of time and at much less cost. Especially if the target audience is young, TikTok is increasingly a powerful tool to use. But as with other social platforms, TikTok now has users across all ages, and this just provides brands and PR professionals with more possibilities. They can leverage TikTok to target their content more directly at their niche market.

New features on the app even allow for shopping online, which has paved the way for making the platform an increasingly popular way to sell and buy products, especially among small companies. Users can even be directed to the company website, again an added feature that supports brands in boosting awareness, promoting products and subsequently generating more sales.

Ban and other concerns

Despite its seemingly unbridled popularity, TikTok continues to be plagued by so many issues. US President Joe Biden has signed a bill in April aiming to ban TikTok if ByteDance fails to sell the app within a year, only to have this followed by a suit from TikTok calling the move unconstitutional.

Even without the total ban across the US, the app is not allowed for use on federal government systems and devices. The same is true across many countries such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Norway and Taiwan where TikTok is banned on government work devices. In Denmark, the app is not permitted on Defense Ministry staff devices and across the EU, on Parliament, Commission and EU Council staff devices. Full bans are implemented in India, Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Somalia.

Security and surveillance are at the forefront of issues surrounding TikTok. China’s National Intelligence Law of 2017 is deemed by many governments as a way the Chinese government can compel companies such as ByteDance to turn over user data to the government in the interest of China’s national security. Imagine all that information from registration information to browsing history and other preferences, possibly even e-commerce-related data as TikTok now allows online shopping, from users all over the world accessible for China to use.

For a company or business, customer data privacy and security should be a primary concern, and TikTok can make this a vulnerable issue. Further, TikTok’s link to China and the persistent security issue could be something some businesses would not like to be associated with.

TikTok carries with it social and reputational risks, in particular because of the virality it can and does create, something that companies and PR pros are wary about. Content that provokes negative reactions or generate public attention negatively can pick up such traction and turn into a crisis, potentially harming a brand or company. Even without intending to, content can be deemed by some as being discriminatory, insensitive or plain misguided, and this can have negative effects on the business.

A ban in PH?

So what happens if House Bill 10489 becomes a law? What can PR companies do to support clients’ brands on TikTok?

Regulatory developments will certainly have implications for companies and their PR partners in charge of social media management. Although HB 10489 is still just a proposal, PR communicators need to start thinking and planning proactively to cushion the impact. For those with clients with TikTok presence overseas, the urgency is even greater.

One course of action is to ensure a diversified content across a variety of platforms. If TikTok has been the main content channel, perhaps it’s time to look for alternatives and revisit content distribution strategies. The fact is that users will adjust their content consumption habits and shift to other options or platforms. So it won’t hurt brands to do the same pivot and take advantage of the changing landscape.

This might mean then that a multichannel or multiplatform content strategy is still the best approach. With this, any sudden changes in the access and use of any platform will not have a catastrophic impact on PR, marketing and the entire business: There will be other channels by which to engage the public. Not putting all the eggs in a single basket still applies then.

PR professionals would also need to rethink their influencer plans and strategies, especially if most of their influencers are TikTok-centric. They might need to reconnect with influencers on other platforms.

Ultimately, PR pros and their company clients need to recognize growing concerns about social media might lead to stricter regulations. Regulating TikTok could be the beginning, especially with fake news proliferation on Facebook and even X and other similar issues affecting the other platforms. Regardless, companies’ and communicators’ creativity and persistence will certainly enable them to find other ways to win and engage their audiences and build a community.


Sources

  • https://backlinko.com/tiktok-users
  • https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1750258/ph-among-most-tiktok-crazed-countries-in-the-world
  • https://tiktokhashtags.com/hashtag/philippines/#google_vignette
  • https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/what-is-tiktok-used-for
  • https://www.philstar.com/business/2024/06/15/2363074/dangers-tiktok
  • https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1225432
  • https://www.prnewsonline.com/tiktok-pr-potential/
  • https://www.spiralytics.com/blog/tiktok-in-the-philippines/
  • https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/TikTok-bans-explained-Everything-you-need-to-know
  • https://www.meltwater.com/en/global-digital-trends

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