TikTok, the fastest-growing mobile video app has promised on Thursday to contribute $250 million for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) relief around the world. In its public release, the company announced that the funds will be used to support front line medical workers, educators, and local communities deeply affected by the global crisis.
The company has announced this step after the big tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Netflix, as well as top leaders of Microsoft, Amazon, and Twitter, made similar announcements.
“We are committed to playing our part in that global outpouring of mutual support and giving,” TikTok president Alex Zhu said in a statement. “We want to magnify all we are seeing across our community and translate it into concrete relief for those most affected by this crisis,” he added.
TikTok’s contribution has a larger extent as the company’s release mentions that the $150 million of the funds would be allocated for medical staffing, supplies, and hardship relief for health care workers through the US Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organisation, and agencies working to distribute supplies in hard-hit countries including India, Indonesia, Italy, and South Korea.
Another $40 million will be donated to “organizations that serve groups representative of TikTok’s diverse user communities, including musicians, artists, nurses, educators, and families that have come together on our platform,” Zhu said.
TikTok said it would match $10 million in donations to its “community relief fund,” with some of that going to artists, songwriters, and music professionals hurt by canceled performances and gig work.
Another $50 million will be applied to a “creative learning fund” to support distance learning efforts worldwide.
TikTok owned by the Chinese tech firm Bytedance has been under the radar of US officials for sharing the user information to the Chinese government but the company has denied any involvement with the Chinese government.
According to Sensor Tower, TikTok has gain 65 million downloads worldwide in the month of March and is expected to gain more users in the upcoming months.
