I disagree, it’s fairly restrictive outside of showing you one video if you’re in the browser. You can see the video you were linked to but not comments, other videos that use the same sound, other videos by the same creator etc.
It’s a pretty common pattern these days; you can also see IG progressively locking down web features tighter and tighter for example.
Are we even talking about the same site? I opened tiktok.com in a private browser window and was greeted by an infinite scrolling list of videos. I scrolled past maybe a hundred and was never prompted to sign up. Clicking on a creator's name takes me to their profile with all their videos. Clicking on the music link immediately above each video takes me to a www.tiktok.com/music/<name-of-the-song> page with tons of videos using the same music. Only comments are behind a login wall.
These might change in the future, but your claims just aren't true at the moment. I'm not sure if there are regional variations. (douyin.com certainly behaves differently, but that's an entirely different product.)
It’s a pretty common pattern these days; you can also see IG progressively locking down web features tighter and tighter for example.