One of TikTok's initiatives is coming to an end.
The Verge reported that the $1 billion Creator Fund that the social media company established in 2020 will be shut down. TikTok spokesperson Maria Jung said that as of December 16th, creators based in the US, UK, Germany and France will no longer be able to monetize their videos through the fund.
However, Italy and Spain are not included in that list, and countries on the list can “move to the creativity programme”. According to Jung, the Creativity program allows creators to earn more than 20 times the income they earn with the foundation's assistance.
The outlet also noted that TikTok influencers and content creators had been vocal about making money ahead of the upcoming shutdown.Dividends are low – in some cases Get millions of views for just a few dollars — I'm making impossible to make a living Creator Fund only. ”
Influencers and content creators aren't the only ones speaking up about the fund. As previously shared by AFROTECH, in March 2023; Sean Kim, former head of product for TikTok's U.S. operations, said TikTok didn't create the fund to help creators monetize their content, but rather to help retain users through metrics. he claimed.
“When we launched the TikTok Creator Fund, we didn't launch it to help creators monetize,” Kim said during a panel discussion at SXSW. “I mean, that's what we said everywhere in public: 'We're doing this to help creators monetize.' That wasn't why we launched it. We launched this as a response to other platforms launching creator funds. We wondered what would happen if these creators monetized or created content on other platforms. It negatively impacts our metrics, DAU, and retention. That's why we launched Creator Fund. ”
TikTok has yet to confirm whether it has fully distributed the $1 billion to creators.
