Lizzo performs a medley at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
NEW YORK (AP) --
An estimated 12.4 million people tuned in to watch stars Harry Styles, Lizzo and Bad Bunny perform at the Grammy Awards, along with a tribute to 50 years of rap history.
That's up from the pandemic-affected broadcasts of the last two years, the Nielsen company said on Monday. Live viewership was 8.8 million in 2021 and 8.9 million in 2022.
While the Grammys bounced back, it didn't reach the viewership levels of pre-COVID days. Music's showcase night was seen by 18.7 million people in 2020.
Live television viewership has declined across-the-board over the past few years, with pro football one of the few events to buck the trend.
There was no immediate estimate of how viewing broke down between CBS and its sister streaming service, Paramount+, which also covered the awards. The number is likely to increase slightly when delayed viewing is counted later.
A visitor passes the TikTok exhibition stands at the Gamescom computer gaming fair in Cologne, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
The U.K.'s data protection watchdog said Monday that it's investigating how TikTok uses the personal information of teenagers to deliver content recommendations to them when they use the social media platform.
The Information Commissioner's Office said that there are growing concerns around how social media platforms were using data generated by children's online activity to power their recommendation algorithms, and the potential for young people to see inappropriate or harmful content as a result.
The regulator said that it wanted to ensure the robustness of TikTok's safety procedures when it comes to using the personal information of teens ranging in age from 13 to 17.
"It's what they're collecting, it's how they work," information commissioner John Edwards said. "I will expect to find that there will be many benign and positive uses of children's data in their recommender systems."
"What I am concerned about is whether they are sufficiently robust to prevent children being exposed to harm, either from addictive practices on the device or the platform, or from content that they see, or from other unhealthy practices," he said.
As part of the investigation, the regulator will also look into how online forum site Reddit and image-sharing site Imgur use children's personal data and how they estimate or verify a child's age.
TikTok, which is operated by Chinese technology firm ByteDance, said in a statement that it was "deeply committed to ensuring a positive experience for young people on TikTok."
"Our recommender systems are designed and operate under strict and comprehensive measures that protect the privacy and safety of teens, including industry-leading safety features and robust restrictions on the content... Read More
