Facebook is making a concerted effort to become more like TikTok, according to a whistle-blower.
Frances Haugen hasn’t been impressed with Facebook’s efforts to evolve over recent months, arguing that it’s “a bad idea”.
Speaking at Vox Media’s Code Conference, Haugen said: “The world that they’re choosing to go towards is one where you have to do censorship to be safe and I think that’s a bad idea.”
Haugen made the comments after Facebook took the decision to transform its home feed to include a new tab that recommends short videos called Reels.
The change led social media users to draw a parallel between Facebook and TikTok, which has seen its popularity increase dramatically in recent years.
Meanwhile, the Chinese version of TikTok previously announced plans to limit users who are under 14 years old to 40 minutes a day.
ByteDance – the parent company of Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok – confirmed the news in a new blog post.
The plan was revealed amid the Chinese government’s push to impose restrictions on kids’ access to video games and other similar types of technology.
Under the revised measures, kids aged under 14 are only able to access Douyin between 6am and 10pm. As a result, they aren’t able to access the app outside these hours.
The Chinese government’s approach stems from a fear of the potentially harmful impact of Douyin on young people.
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