TikTok employees can make videos go viral, Chinese-owned company says

Officials at TikTok confirmed to The Verge that their employees can make videos go viral using a function called "heating" that adds videos to people's "For You" feeds manually, rather than through the algorithm that generally makes those decisions.

The Chinese-owned company claims that it only uses the "heating" function to introduce new creators to more users, and only for a fraction of a percent of all videos.

An internal document Forbes says it obtained claims that the heated videos account for 1-2% of daily videos, however.

TikTok apparently uses the function to enhance its relationships with certain businesses and creators, including celebrity influencers.

When the platform helps pick winners and losers, however, it could be doing so with an agenda to push certain viewpoints, possibly in conjunction with its Communist ownership.

It's yet another reason why the U.S. should probably ban it or insist on China divesting itself of all ownership and influence if it wants to keep operating in the U.S.