Amazon's Twitch Launches Short-Form Video Platform To Challenge TikTok As Chinese Platform's Future Remains Uncertain

Amazon.com, Inc.’s AMZN Twitch has introduced a short-form video platform, directly competing with ByteDance-owned TikTok, amidst the latter’s uncertain future in the U.S.

What Happened: Twitch, a popular live-streaming platform, has unveiled a new feature called Discovery Feed. It appears as a new tab on Twitch’s mobile app, allowing users to browse through short clips extracted from longer videos, reported Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Unlike TikTok, where creators upload their own short-form content, Twitch users select entertaining segments from live streams and convert them into clips. The Discovery Feed will be “personalized” based on a viewer’s watch history and real-time interactions, potentially including mature content that complies with Twitch’s guidelines.

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Why It Matters: The future of TikTok in the U.S. has been uncertain due to concerns related to data privacy and national security.

Last week, President Joe Biden signed legislation that gives TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, nine months, with the possibility of a 90-day extension, to either sell the app or face a national ban.

This has sparked a strong reaction from TikTok, with its CEO vowing to fight the ban in court. “Make no mistake, this is a ban, a ban on TikTok and a ban on you and your voice,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a video last week.

Meanwhile, the situation has also drawn attention from global leaders, with the European Commission president suggesting that a ban on TikTok in the EU is also a possibility.

Photo by salarko on Shutterstock

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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