How TikTok is not “supporting independent research”
The conditions of the official API are to be criticized
I was very happy when I finally got David Teather’s “Unofficial TikTok API Wrapper” working for my bachelor thesis in 2021 with my meager Python knowledge and was able to retrieve the data of more than 8,000 videos from 38 accounts of German media as CSV.
At the time, an official API was not in sight, but that was to change a good year later. TikTok announced its intention to make an official interface available in July 2022, albeit opening it only for selected scientists in November 2022.
In general, transparency suddenly seemed very important. Since July 2020, they have been publishing a quarterly “Transparency Report” with data on videos deleted for non-compliance with community guidelines.
What does TikTok require when using the API?
So now the time has finally come and TikTok has opened up applications for the API, at least in the US. However, the Terms of Service give reason for concern, because several points stand out negatively:
- You may only use TikTok Research API Data for Research on the topics approved by TikTok as part of your application. (3.b)
- You agree to regularly refresh TikTok Research API Data at least every fifteen (15) days, and delete data that is not available from the TikTok Research API at the time of each refresh. TikTok Research API Data shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for Research approved as part of your application. You agree to provide TikTok with written certification of data deletion upon TikTok’s request. (3.d)
- You agree to provide TikTok with a copy at least thirty (30) days before its publication for courtesy. (3.e)
- You agree TikTok and its affiliates will have a worldwide, free, non-exclusive, perpetual or for the maximum term allowed by local law, sublicensable, unlimited license to use the Qualified Research Partner name and, logo(s), other identifying information, and to use, modify, reproduce, distribute, transmit, display, and create derivative works from your Research in whole or in part for any legitimate business purpose without notice. Some examples include: (1) for internal review, sharing, and analysis; (2) for marketing and promoting TikTok Research API and related services. (3.g)
What are alternatives to get TikTok data?
The rollout in other countries remains to be seen, even if these rules stay in place and are followed. TikTok researchers do not have many alternatives until then. The social media platform has apparently taken steps to stop David Teather’s workaround. Unfortunately, David has been neglecting his GitHub repo for several months now and leaves requests from users in the forum unanswered.
Meanwhile, Researchers from Canada seem to have found a solution to this. They used TikTok data to study the war in Ukraine and, while they didn’t publish the numbers themselves, they did publish their revised code on GitHub.
The business of data is lucrative, especially when it is kept under wraps as well as TikTok. Therefore, it is no wonder that there are also some commercial providers on the net that promise numbers to TikTok accounts for a monthly amount. So far, I have only found one that seems to be worth its money: mavekite.com ($29/month).
However, you should also keep in mind that scraping TikTok data — as with many other platforms — violates the Terms of Service.
Dear TikTok, we can not work with this
All in all, the TikTok API is quite a joke, even if the efforts are basically to be welcomed. Above all, there is nothing “independent” about it if the social media giant wants to completely control the research. I hope that the justified criticism of the conditions will not go unheard.
