Tiktok is a Chinese psyop dressed up in the clothing of social media. The content in North America is moderated and promoted in a way that is tailored to cause division, make us dumb, glue us to our phones, steer public opinion, and overall weaken the culture and cohesiveness of the respective groups using it. Compare that to the content in China proper, which is tailored toward math, science, nationalism, physical activity, and Chinese culture, which all strengthen their country.
Congress held hearings for multiple days on the national security threat posed by the widespread use of the app. They voted with an overwhelming majority to ban the app unless Bytedance sells to a domestic company that does not have legal ties to the CCP. If they dont, traffic from US IP addresses and support for the app on mobile devices will be blocked on Jan 19 2025.
I agree that what you saw is troubling. People who have been paying attention saw it years ago.