Tiktok rus

Performance indicators

2023: Losses - 427 million rubles

For the first time since 2020, TikTok recorded a loss from activities in Russia. This happened in 2023, when the company's net losses reached 427 million rubles against 530 million rubles in profit a year earlier. The revenue of the social network in the Russian Federation at the end of 2023 decreased 3.4 times - to 681 million rubles. This is evidenced by the data of the accounting statements, which Tiktok Rus LLC published in early April 2024.

By this time, TikTok still limits the download of new content and the ability to broadcast live for Russian users. The company made this decision because of the law on fake news, according to which the punishment for discrediting the army and fakes about Russia's military special operation in Ukraine was increased to 15 years in prison. However, despite this, the largest bloggers TikTok retained their audience, confirming a stable number of subscribers. As of October 2023, TikTok remained one of the most popular social networks in Russia with an audience of about 67.6 million people, according to Mediascope data.

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And at the end of 2023, some users of the TikTok social network in Russia gained access to publishing and viewing new content. In addition, part of the Russian business can launch targeted advertising on the site from the end of 2023, Forbes reports, citing representatives of several agencies working with bloggers.^[1]

2022

Net profit growth almost 10 times to 530.3 million rubles

In 2022, the net profit of TikTok Rus LLC (the main legal entity of the Chinese service TikTok in Russia) reached 530.3 million rubles, which is 9.8 times more than in the previous year. Such data are reflected in the company's financial statements, which became known on April 27, 2023.

TikTok's profit in Russia in 2022 grew almost 10 times
Photo: Pixabay/ 3dnews.ru

According to RBC, the revenue of TikTok Rus LLC in 2022 amounted to 2.36 billion rubles: this is approximately 29% less than the result for the previous year. Of this amount, 1.4 billion rubles (almost 2.5 times less than in 2021) brought advertising, the rest - the provision of marketing and consulting services to its parent company.

In the current geopolitical situation, the TikTok service in March 2022 suspended monetization in Russia, including the placement of advertising materials targeted to the country. In order to reduce financial costs, the company has reduced the number of personnel in the Russian Federation by more than five times. As of the end of 2022, 67 employees worked in the Russian TikTok instead of 354 at the end of 2021. The company spent 112.5 million rubles on payments for layoffs.

"The explanation to the reporting says that now TikTok cannot ensure the placement of ads targeted at the territory and audience of Russia, which negatively affected the volume of revenue from this type of activity. To reduce costs during the freeze, the platform stopped labor relations with the main part of its employees in Russia, "RBC said in a statement.

It is also noted that during 2022, the Russian structure TikTok entered into several agreements with other divisions of the Chinese company on attracting loans: at the end of February - with a funding limit of up to $5 million and a little more than 4 billion rubles, in March - with a limit of up to $1 million and 6 million Chinese yuan.^[2]

Drop in mobile traffic by 2 times

Mobile traffic TikTok Russia in the year - from March 2022 to March 2023 - fell 2 times. This is stated in the study "," MegaFon which was published at the end of March 2023.

According to experts, TikTok began losing its audience in March 2022, when Russian users were banned from adding new videos. Users over 55 years old were the only category with growing traffic throughout 2022, the researchers note.

TikTok began losing its audience in March 2022, when Russian users were banned from adding new videos

According to them, TikTok's decision to ban the download of new videos in Russia affected the entire segment of short videos in the Russian Federation - in 2022, total mobile traffic in such services decreased by 55%. The TikTok audience finds new platforms for itself, including YouTube Shorts, Yappi, "VK clips," etc., indicate in MegaFon.

According to analysts of the telecom operator, the Likee service, which has not gained a significant share in the segment for several years, was able to turn the situation in its favor. Since the spring of 2022, attention to Likee has constantly grown, for example, in June 2022, the start of school holidays, mobile traffic in it doubled. Over the year, the growth was 300%. Also, MegaFon specialists recorded an increase in traffic in Russian services Yappi and "VK clips" - there the main influx of audiences was observed in the fall and during the New Year holidays.

TikTok has disabled all channels for users from Russia and Ukraine so that there are no conflicts, because this is a positive social network. It can start its work when it becomes quieter, there will be some results, - said the main developer of the site Kremlin.ru Artem Geller.[3]

History

2023: TikTok fined for the first time in Russia for non-removal of LGBT content

On August 24, 2023, TikTok was first fined in Russia for non-removal of LGBT content. The world judicial district in Moscow found the company guilty under Part 2 of Art. 13.41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (failure by the owner of the site to remove information or an Internet page if the obligation to remove such information, an Internet page is provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation) and sentenced her to a fine of 2 million rubles.

According to TASS, citing case materials announced in court, the reason was the publication on TikTok of four videos with kissing men. These materials were identified by specialists from Roskomnadzor, who considered that these videos could form a positive view in adolescents about same-sex relationships. TikTok did not delete these videos, after which a protocol on an administrative offense was drawn up.

TikTok fined for failing to remove LGBT content

A TikTok defender asked the judge to stop the proceedings, pointing to violations committed in the proceedings, as well as the insignificance of the offense.

Since the end of 2022, Russia has had a law tightening the punishment for displaying LGBT content. LGBT ideas and gender reassignment cannot be promoted in advertising, books, film and media among adults and children. For individuals, a fine of up to 400 thousand rubles is provided for this, for legal entities - up to 5 million rubles. By the beginning of the summer of 2023, Roskomnadzor (RKN) compiled 19 protocols regarding Russian online cinemas for maintaining access for underage users to materials demonstrating LGBT people, as well as incorrect labeling of such content. The department recalled that, according to Russian law, online services are obliged to exclude all materials with LGBT propaganda, as well as provide for the introduction of restrictions on access to materials with LGBT demonstrations for minors, "so that the child is guaranteed not to be able to turn off age restrictions or change their settings."^[4]

2022

Loss of 72% of income from the largest bloggers

By the end of March 2023, Russian million-plus bloggers posting short videos on TikTok lost an average of 72% of their income compared to the same period in 2022. Such data are provided by the Association of Bloggers and Agencies (ABA).

The organization estimated a ten bloggers with an audience of 2.7 million people (Nikolena, Dima Talalanov, Filaretovs, Polina, Julia Smurfi, Alan Gedygushev, Lyudmila Svetlova, Fail, Married to Marina, Tosha) - on an annualized basis, their monthly income decreased from 7.9 million to 2.5 million rubles. The association explained the drop in income by a decrease in the number of advertisers and a decrease in publication coverage.

Russian bloggers with a population of one million lost an average of 72% of their income

After the aggravation of the situation in Ukraine, TikTok limited the download of new videos and access to foreign content in Russia. Russians earning in social networks began to switch to other resources, including domestic ones. But bloggers with a population of one million who shot videos on TikTok are having difficulty switching to alternative sites, the ABA explained, stressing that "on none of the sites does the number of subscribers even come close to TikTok."

In addition, advertisers are in no hurry to offer cooperation on alternative platforms to bloggers recording short videos, since "such content is poorly monetized." Advertisers prefer full-fledged materials with a high CTR (ratio of advertising to the number of impressions) to their links, the study says, excerpts from which are quoted by Kommersant.

At the same time, it is noted that for tiktokers with a small audience, income, on the contrary, increased - in the first quarter of 2023 by 23-25%. According to the general director of the Epicstars agency Denis Volkov, their earnings increased thanks to cooperation with new small Russian advertisers, who began to occupy the niches vacated after the departure of foreign companies.^[5]

Dismissal of almost all employees in the Russian Federation

On December 16, 2022, it became known about mass layoffs in the Russian office of TikTok. According to one of the Forbes sources, up to 500 people fell under the reductions. Another interlocutor of the magazine did not name the exact number of dismissed employees, but said that we are talking about almost all employees of the company's division in Russia. The remaining staff - specialists of the gaming team - the company can transfer to Dubai.

According to another Forbes interlocutor in one of the production companies, in early December 2022, the office that Russian TikTok rented in coworking space WeWork"was empty at the height of the working day."

TikTok has fired almost all employees in Russia. That's 500 people

The press service of TikTok confirmed the dismissal to the publication, but did not name the number of employees affected by this, nor the reason for the personnel purge.

And now, unfortunately, we have to reduce the staff in Russia. We deeply appreciate these employees and their contribution to the platform and we guarantee their support during this challenging time. We will continue to assess the situation in Russia to decide on the safe resumption of a full-fledged service, - said a representative of the Russian office of TikTok.

According to one of Forbes' interlocutors, familiar with the company's plans, TikTok did not have "any special trigger" for cuts in Russia.

It's just that more than six months have passed, during which they kept people on the payroll without receiving revenue. In India, this [staff reduction] took less than six months.

Indian authorities blocked TikTok along with a number of other social networks in mid-2020, recalls the publication

Ministry of Digital Development RUSSIAN FEDERATION Maksut Shadayev At the end of November 2022, the head said that the volume of TikTok traffic in Russia has not fallen since the beginning of February, noting that it is still popular, despite the restrictions.^[6]

Russian court fined TikTok 3 million rubles due to LGBT propaganda

By decision of the magistrate of the judicial district of the Tagansky district of Moscow on October 4, 2022, the social network TikTok was fined for refusing to delete publications in which LGBT propaganda is observed.

TikTok Pte. Ltd was found guilty of committing an administrative offense under Part 2 of Article 13.41 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, he was sentenced to an administrative fine of 3 million rubles, - said judge Timur Vakhrameev (quoted by TASS).

Russian court fined TikTok 3 million rubles

According to the case file cited by the agency, the reason for the fine against TikTok was a protocol Roskomnadzor drawn up for "promoting the LGBT movement, radical feminism and a distorted idea of ​ ​ traditional sexual relations."

This protocol was drawn up on the basis of a statement by Rosmolodezh to Roskomnadzor. The reason for its compilation was that on February 10, 2022, a video was posted on TikTok in which the author talks about teaching English through gender, and also forms a distorted idea of ​ ​ non-traditional sexual relations. A TikTok representative in early October 2022 asked the court to dismiss the case for lack of corpus delicti.

Since February 2022, Roskomnadzor has been drawing up administrative protocols regarding social networks and instant messengers that have not removed calls to participate in unauthorized actions. Since the beginning of the year, a number of resources have been repeatedly brought to administrative responsibility for violating Russian law after refusing to remove prohibited content. TikTok from the beginning of 2021 to the beginning of October 2022 was fined a total of more than 11 million rubles for refusing to delete information that is prohibited by Russian law.^[7]

Decision of Roskomnadzor on the application of coercion measures

Roskomnadzor On August 19, 2022 Telegram , he announced his decision to apply coercion measures against TikTok Pte. Telegram Messenger Zoom Video Communications Ltd., , Inc., , Inc.,. and Discord, Inc, Pinterest Inc. in the form of informing search engines Internet users about the violation by companies of the requirements of Russian the law.

The above IT companies do not comply with the procedure for removing prohibited information and the main obligations established by federal law No. 236-FZ "On the activities of foreign persons on the Internet on the territory of the Russian Federation."

The measures taken of an informative nature will be valid until the complete elimination of violations of Russian legislation by foreign companies^[8].

Theft of 1 million rubles

At the end of April 2022 TikTok , a theft of more than 1 million was committed in the Moscow office. rubles According TASS to a law enforcement source, unknown persons entered the office of Tiktok Rus LLC on Bolshaya Yakimanka and stole equipment, Apple including eight hours, 31 and Apple Watch smartphoneiPhone four computers. At the iMac same time, the locks on the doors did not damage, which may indicate that the thieves had keys and knew where the valuable equipment was, the agency writes.

RIA Novosti, citing the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow, writes that a statement about the theft was received by the police on May 20: it said that the incident occurred on April 27, 2022. It is noted that the total cost of stolen Apple products exceeds 1 million rubles, but the total damage will be established during the pre-investigation check.

Later on May 24, 2022, TASS, citing its informant, reported that material damage from theft in the Russian office of TikTok amounted to 2.17 million rubles. The police opened a case under the article on theft (part 4 of article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

On April 26, 2022, a magistrate's court Moscow imposed an administrative fine on the social network TikTok in the amount of 2 million rubles for refusing to remove material banned in Russia, it is about promoting sexual minorities. The protocol on TikTok was drawn up for videos with LGBT content.

On April 20, 2022, it became known that the Chinese app TikTok was again available to Russian App Store users. Prior to that, on April 19, information appeared that the American company Apple had removed the TikTok application from the App Store in Russia. When searching for an app in the App Store, it was not displayed.^[9]

Restriction of work in Russia

On March 7, 2022, TikTok announced that it would stop live broadcasts in Russia and ban Russian users from posting videos. Then the company explained such measures by the law on punishments for fakes related to the Russian special operation in Ukraine. TikTok management told about the suspension of work in Russia on the service's Twitter blog. According to company representatives, the platform is a creative space for entertainment in difficult times, but the safety of the company's employees comes first.

Restriction of work in Russia

At the end of February 2022, communications, information technology and mass media Roskomnadzor demanded that TikTok exclude military content from recommendations for minors. These materials, according to the statement of the department, in most cases have a pronounced anti-Russian character.

State Duma Deputy Anton Gorelkin suggested that the restrictions that TikTok has set for Russian users will lead to an increase in the popularity of another analogue of the social network - the Russian Yappy.

2021: Revenue growth to 3.3 billion rubles

At the end of 2021, the revenue of the Russian representative office of TikTok reached 3.3 billion rubles, which is about 65 times more than a year ago at 51 million rubles. Such data in the SPARK-Interfax system were released in mid-April 2022.

According to TASS, citing the published report, the net profit of Tiktok Rus LLC at the end of 2021 amounted to 53.9 million rubles, which is 1.8 times more than a year earlier. For comparison, the revenue of the Russian competitor TikTok in the person of the social network "VKontakte," which develops its own short video service "Clips," reached 27.9 billion rubles in 2021.^[10]

2020: Creation of the Russian division

Tiktok Rus LLC was registered on March 30, 2020. 99.99% of the company is owned by TikTok Pte. Ltd., 0,01% - TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited.

Notes