TikTok overtakes Facebook as world’s most downloaded app

TOKYO — A global survey of downloads in 2020 shows that TikTok, a video-sharing app developed in China, on top of the list of social media providers for the first time since the study was first conducted in 2018.

As concern for personal privacy grows, Telegram, a messaging app that can delete posts, also ranked high during a year when social media use has been driven up by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Bytedance launched the international version of TikTok in 2017, and has since overtaken Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook messenger — all of which are Facebook owned — in downloads, even in the U.S.

“I enjoy videos by artists who aren’t performing live anymore because of the pandemic,” said Nina, 37, of Portland in the U.S.

Some believe that personal information shared with TikTok is not secure. In 2020, former President Donald Trump called on the company to sell off its…