TikTok's rapid rise from a niche video-sharing app to a global giant among social networks has sparked intense scrutiny, particularly over its ties to China.
In Washington, the platform has been accused of espionage.
The European Union suspects it was used to influence the presidential election in Romania in favour of a far-right candidate.
Albania banned it for a year and Prime Minister Edi Rama called it the "thug in the neighbourhood".
Here's the main controversy surrounding TikTok.
Albania: ban for a minimum of one year
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said , that from 2025 the government will suspend the social network TikTok for at least one year.
The move came less than a month after a 14-year-old student was killed and another injured in a fight near a school in Tirana.
The fight developed as a result of an online confrontation on social networks.
Romania: suspected political influence
The EU is investigating whether the surprise victory of far-right presidential candidate Calin Giurgescu in the first round of Romania's presidential election was aided by Russian interference and "preferential treatment" by TikTok.
This is the third investigation launched by the Commission against TikTok, which could be fined up to 6% of its worldwide turnover.
The platform said it had taken "decisive action" to tackle misinformation related to the election. Russia denies having interfered in the vote.
US: pressure to sell
In April, the United States passed a law requiring TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the platform by 19 January on the grounds that it allows China to access data on US users.
Otherwise, the platform will be banned in the United States and will deprive TikTok of its 170 million users in the country.
TikTok acknowledged that ByteDance employees in China had access to Americans' data, but denied that it had provided data to Chinese authorities.
To protect the data, the US government, the European Commission and the UK government have already banned TikTok from employees' work devices through 2023.
Australia: ban on teens
TikTok was among the many platforms targeted by a landmark law passed in Australia in November banning under-16s from social networks.
Companies that do not comply with the law face fines of up to A$50 million (US$32.5 million) for "systemic breaches".
TikTok admitted it was "disappointed" by the Australian legislation and argued it could drive young people to "darker corners of the internet".
According to Wallaroo, almost a third of TikTok users are between the ages of 10 and 19.
EU: removing features
In August, the company, under pressure from EU regulators, was forced to drop a feature on its TikTok Lite subsidiary in France and Spain that rewarded users for screen time.
In this rewards programme, users over the age of 18 could earn points to redeem for goods such as vouchers or gift cards by liking and watching videos.
The EU accused this programme of having "highly addictive effects".
TikTok's editing features and powerful algorithm put it ahead of the game, attracting an army of creators and influencers as well as creating many of its own.
According to a Forbes report, TikTok and ByteDance employees are also manually increasing the number of views on certain content.
TikTok claims that manual promotion affects only a small fraction of recommended videos.
Misinformation
The app has regularly been accused of putting users in danger by spreading dangerous "challenge" videos.
Several children have died while trying to repeat a so-called blackout challenge, which involves users holding their breath until they lose consciousness. There are other similar games that lead to severe fractures among adolescents.
In a study by the disinformation group NewsGuard, about one-fifth of videos on topical issues such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine were said to be fake or misleading.
A number of media outlets and fact-checking organizations receive payment from TikTok in several countries in Asia and Oceania, Europe, the Middle East and Spanish-speaking Latin America to moderate videos that potentially contain false information. Videos are removed from TikTok if the teams prove that the information in them is false. | BGNES
