TikTok made its name by helping people easily share short videos across the web. Now the site is thinking bigger. The social-media giant told CBS News and TechCrunch that it’s experimenting with letting some users upload videos that are as long as 60 minutes, a significant jump from the current range of about 3 seconds to 10 minutes. The feature, which the company indicated was in a trial phase, doesn’t have a set launch plan.
Representatives for TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, didn’t immediately respond to a request for details, including which creators it’s working with. Last year, the company worked with streaming service Peacock to make an episode of the rags-to-riches sitcom Killing It available on its platform, although that episode was broken up into five separate parts, TechCrunch noted at the time.
TikTok’s efforts to expand the types of videos on its platform come as it seeks to further cement its position as one of the most popular social media apps in the world. Its success is due in part to its For You feed, which provides users with videos related to creators and topics in which they’ve shown interest. That, and its cultural influence among younger people, has pushed other social media giants, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Snap, to emulate some of its most successful features.
Still, TikTok’s success with this or any other feature won’t just be judged on whether people interact with it and enjoy it. TikTok is also facing a potential ban from the United States after President Joe Biden designated the app a national security risk, in part because of ByteDance’s reported connections to the Chinese government.
Read more: President Biden Signs Bill That Could Ban TikTok: What to Know
TikTok sued the US government earlier this month, saying efforts to force ByteDance into selling the app to avoid a nationwide ban are unconstitutional, despite a recent bill on the matter having been signed into law. TikTok said in its suit that unless the law is struck down, it will be forced to shut down access for US users on Jan. 19, 2025.
In the meantime, however, the company continues to add new features. In addition to experimenting with longer video uploads, TikTok last week said it’s adding watermarks to AI content to warn users when they’re looking at photos, videos or audio content created using artificial intelligence tools from the likes of Microsoft, Adobe and OpenAI.
