Some K-Pop stars' TikTok China accounts blocked from view

JYP Entertainment

17/07/2020 07:00

SHANGHAI/SEOUL, July 17 (Reuters) - Some K-pop stars'
accounts have been blocked from view on TikTok's China version
Douyin, Reuters' checks showed on Friday, days after South
Korea's media regulator slapped fines on the short-video app for
data privacy noncompliance. 
    The reasons for the blocks were unknown, but the move also
comes after remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that
the United States is "certainly looking at" banning Chinese
social media apps, including TikTok.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2EE063
    South Korea's communications regulator on Wednesday fined
TikTok Pte Ltd, the publisher of the app, 186 million won
($154,320) for collecting personal information of children under
14 years of age without consent from guardians and failing to
disclose or notify when sending personal information overseas. 
    TikTok was required to submit voluntary preventative
measures within 30 days, and the regulator planned to continue
discussions with TikTok on information security issues, an
official with the Korea Communications Commission said. 
    Accounts of K-Pop stars such as Rain, TWICE, Mamamoo and
HyunA were blocked from view on Douyin as of Friday. 
    Douyin and TikTok operated independently and the accounts
were working normally on TikTok, a TikTok spokeswoman said. 
    Representatives for Douyin did not immediately respond to a
request for comment. TikTok and Douyin are both owned by Chinese
company ByteDance. 
    The K-pop stars' management agencies did not comment. 
    China accumulated 196.6 million downloads of Douyin as of
the first quarter of 2020, or 9.7% of more than 2 billion TikTok
downloads in total, according to data from industry site Sensor
Tower. 
    K-Pop concerts, tourism and South Korean businesses were hit
hard by a Chinese boycott in 2017 after Seoul deployed a
U.S-made missile defence system despite Beijing's objections. 
    Hopes of a thaw in relations grew earlier this year amid
plans for a possible visit to Seoul by Chinese President Xi
Jinping.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AK3F7 

($1 = 1,205.2700 won)

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee in Seoul and Brenda Goh in Shanghai;
Additional Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Stephen
Coates)
 ((jungyoon.lee@tr.com; +82 2 6936 1467;))