TikTok maintains that it's an 'intermediary', claims to have no editorial control over content

Amidst the TikTok, ShareChat and Indian government back-and-forth on content exclusivity, in the latest statement, TikTok has said that it maintains its ‘intermediary’ status and has no editorial control over the content posted on its platform unless it’s content created with a user under mutual contractual agreements. “TikTok welcomes Indian creators to be part of a safe and positive environment that upholds users’ content and intellectual property rights. The platform does not exercise editorial control over user content…,” TikTok told Economic Times. “However, TikTok may enter into mutual contractual agreements with some creators, wherein it may enjoy certain exclusivity rights over the content of their creators. In this regard, TikTok has undertaken legal action as part of its commitment to protect its users from copyright infringement,” it added. [caption id=“attachment_7173551” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”]  TikTok is already in trouble in India for not doing enough to stem the spread of sexually charged content.[/caption] What is this TikTok and ShareChat feud about? To quickly catch you up, earlier this month, TikTok sent a content takedown notice to ShareChat, after which ShareChat wrote to the government arguing that the Bytedance-owned app’s claims on “exclusivity” of content is inconsistent with its declared status as an intermediary. According to the ET report, some government officials also pointed out that at the time of its **ban earlier this year** , TikTok’s response to all requests to take down certain content, including porn, was based on claims that it is a social media intermediary, and therefore, has no control over posted content.