The Chinese company “ByteDance”, which owns the “TikTok” platform, announced that it is in talks with the Jordanian authorities in order to cancel the ban imposed on the platform in December 2022.
Jordanian authorities stopped the use of the platform in the kingdom on December 16, 2022, after a senior police officer was killed and others were injured during protests over fuel prices in the south of the country. Following the riots, the Kingdom defined the videos on Tiktok as “inciting” and in their view the videos contributed to the intensification of the riots.
In recent months, a social protest has been going on in Jordan due to the increase in prices and the level of unemployment. These riots, which have also reached the point of violence and the killing of police officers, pose a challenge to the royal house which is under constant threat and instability
“We have full faith that through our ongoing conversations with the authorities, we will be able to reach a decision that will allow the TikTok platform to continue serving the millions of content producers in Jordan who have found a home for creative expression on our platform,” TikTok spokespeople said in a statement published in the media. “We are also committed to keeping TikTok a safe and positive environment for our global community,” they added in a statement.
Data presented by the company shows that over 310,000 video clips were deleted from various accounts in Jordan, more than 86% of which had no views at all. The platform emphasized that millions in Jordan use Tik Tok. “Our work teams will continue to take appropriate measures against any content that violates the guidelines established by the TikTok system related to respect for the community, content in Jordan will be removed strictly and proactively,” said a tik tok message in an attempt to convince the Jordanian side to release the imposed block.
In Amman, meanwhile, there are no signs that indicate that they will agree to reauthorize TikTok, the Minister of Economy and Digital Entrepreneurship in Jordan, Ahmed Al-Hananda, stated that “there is nothing new in returning the services of the TikTok platform to work in Jordan.” A Jordanian website quoted the minister as saying: “No notification has been received from the cybercrimes unit to the ministry that the platform services, which were suspended about 30 days ago, will return to work.”
For various reasons, several countries have previously banned the TikTok platform, including Indonesia in 2018, Pakistan and India in 2020, and about 19 states in the US.
The use of social networks and mobile platforms as a tool for spreading information and even conducting demonstrations against the regime broke out in 2011 with the coups in Arab countries in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen. The Tik Tok platform was also held responsible for the incitement and riots in Shumer Hamot, which were manifested in the use of violence against ultra-Orthodox that was filmed and transmitted on Tik Tok, as well as in the confrontations with the security forces, which were also documented, distributed among the users of the platform and provoked them to commit acts of violence and acts of terrorism.