TikTok CEO Mayer Pledges Fake News Fight in Call With EU's Breton

Breton in the last two months has held video conferences with Facebook CEO Zuckerberg, Google CEO Pichai, Apple CEO Cook, and Twitter CEO Dorsey.

By Reuters | Updated: 10 June 2020 10:58 IST

TikTok CEO Mayer Pledges Fake News Fight in Call With EU's Breton

Photo Credit: Twitter/ @ThierryBreton

Mayer, previously Walt Disney's top streaming executive became TikTok's CEO last month

Highlights

Breton has held calls with giants to promote his anti-fake news campaign
Mayer became TikTok's CEO last month
Breton invited TikTok to join the European Union's code of conduct

Chinese video app TikTok's new Chief Executive Kevin Mayer has told EU digital chief Thierry Breton he intends to play an active role fighting disinformation, an EU official said on Tuesday, as Breton pushes tech giants to step up their efforts against fake news.

Breton in the last two months has held video conferences with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to promote his campaign against fake news and other issues.

TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, allows users to create short videos. It has exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 crisis but has recently been hit with privacy complaints and concerns stemming from its apparently close ties to Beijing.

Mayer, previously Walt Disney's top streaming executive, left the US entertainment and theme parks giant to become TikTok's CEO last month.

"Good conversation with Kevin Mayer, CEO of TikTok. Entertaining millions, TikTok has a role to play against disinformation," Breton said in a tweet on Tuesday after a video call with Mayer.

Good conversation with Kevin Mayer, CEO of #TikTok

Entertaining millions, TikTok has a role to play against #disinformation, especially in the fight ????:boxing_glove:

I invite major platforms to subscribe to the :flag-eu: #CodeOfPractice to address the spread of fake news & improve transparency. pic.twitter.com/hLjeB1n9O4
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) June 9, 2020

Breton invited TikTok to join the European Union's code of conduct, said the EU official, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Members of the voluntary code of conduct include Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Mozilla which signed up in October 2018 to combat fake news on their platforms in a bid to stave off more heavy-handed regulations.

"Breton expects online platforms in general and TikTok in particular to use governance proactively to be a partner in fighting disinformation," the official said.

Mayer committed to acting responsibly and to address issues related to illegal and harmful content, including taking additional steps in the fight against disinformation, the official said.

OnePlus 8 vs Mi 10 5G: Which Is the Best 'Value Flagship' Phone in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.