The growing concern over the security and content control implications of TikTok prompted calls to ban the app in the United States or force its sale to an American company.
The Biden administration is racketing up pressure on the company to sell its U.S. operations, continuing hostility dating back to the Trump administration. Others, including U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D – 2nd District) of Wisconsin, have opposed the measure, arguing it does not solve broader privacy issues relating to all social media.
The danger of TikTok specifically centers around its ownership by the Chinese company ByteDance, and the fact that the Chinese Communist Party can compel any action it wants from the company through implicit or explicit threats against the company or its management.
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The app poses a threat as a vehicle for spyware against U.S. officials and public figures who use it. Numerous organizations, including the University of Wisconsin System and the Department of Defense, according to the New York Times, have barred the app from their devices over this concern. The FBI warned that TikTok can be forced to turn over user data to the Chinese government under current laws.
The more significant concern is the ability to systematically suppress content damaging to the CCP. Twenty-one percent of American adults regularly use TikTok and one third of them report consistently using it for news, according to the Pew Research Center. More Americans use TikTok for news than watch CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox News combined.
FBI director Chris Wray warned that the CCP could be using the app to shape content popularity in ways beneficial to their goals. TikTok has suppressed videos by LGBTQ+ and disabled creators, and those damaging to the international reputation of the Chinese government.
The CCP benefits from TikTok influencing content about the genocide it is perpetrating in Xingang, Taiwanese independence and content that weakens Americans’ trust in their government.
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Allowing a major source of news to be controlled by a government seeking to undermine American security and perpetuate its authoritarian methods at home and abroad is an unnecessary risk.
TikTok’s popularity is primarily with younger Americans — nearly half of its users are under 30. This is a demographic with especially low trust in the government, and only 34% say they have confidence in their elected officials, according to the Pew Research Center.
Blocking TikTok is unpopular among younger Americans — 63% of those under 35 say they oppose a ban. Pushing ahead with a ban, however, is unlikely to significantly erode their trust in the American government. There are already several apps that copy TikTok’s format, including Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and Snapchat Spotlight.
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If the U.S. government removes TikTok from the market, these apps will quickly fill the niche. TikTok users are not likely to be particularly loyal to the brand versus the format. A forced sale, the option currently favored, would also bypass this concern entirely by continuing the brand under different ownership.
The Biden administration’s current approach to TikTok — using the threat of a ban to force a sale to an American company — protects Americans while minimizing potential blowback. TikTok’s continued ownership by ByteDance and control by the CCP should not be allowed given the risk of content manipulation.
Aiden Nellis ([email protected]) is a sophomore studying economics and political science.
