A San-Fransisco-based rival of TikTok, named Triller, slammed the Chinese video app for "bullying" and using bad press to undermine Triller's growth, Fox News reported, citing a memo sent to Triller employees by their chairman, Bobby Sarnevesht.
“TikTok is ‘an arm of the Chinese government", Sarnevesht wrote. “As we have witnessed, they do not play by the American rules. We have brought legal action against them for stealing our technology. They refuse to even answer to date. As a Chinese company they do not hold themselves to our standards of practice. What we consider unfair business practices, even potentially illegal, they may consider to be normal everyday business."
This is not the first time TikTok has faced accusations from Triller, which earlier filed a lawsuit against the Chinese video app, claiming that illegally used its patented “systems and methods for creating music synchronized with an audio track.” Triller also claims that TikTok has been weaponizing the media against its significantly smaller rival.
"TikTok has already shown its bullying extreme tactics. First, they denied being a Chinese company and storing any data in China. During their most recent conflict with the US government, it was discovered that they do store and run the US data in China. They claim to be a Cayman Islands Company but, as we have witnessed two weeks ago, the Chinese government has full control of what they can and cannot do", the Triller chairman noted.
According to Sarnevesht, Triller acquired many top 100 TikTok influencers, who are now "becoming exclusive" to Triller - a move that he describes as a "dent" to TikTok's business, to which the Chinese app is responding with "attempting to destroy our reputation".
TikTok has had a tough run in the US currently, as the app has been attacked by the Trump administration while ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, has been told by the White House that it must sell the platform to Oracle and Walmart so that TikTok can continue to operate in the US.
The viral video platform has faced multiple accusations from the White House recently, with Trump alleging that it poses a threat to US national security and claiming that the Chinese government could use TikTok to meddle in the November presidential election.
While both Beijing and TikTok dismissed the allegations, the app is facing a 12 November deadline to finish talks with Oracle and Walmart, or TikTok will be banned from the country. However, negotiations are apparently seeing hardship, as ByteDance insists on owning an 80-percent stake in the US operations of TikTok.
