TikTok is once again under attack by the U.S. government, except this time, the threat to ban the app is more realistic. Last week, the House of Representatives passed a bill which would completely ban the app in the U.S. unless TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, gives away control of the app to a U.S.-owned firm. Since President Joe Biden has already promised to sign the bill should it come to his desk, there is only one more point of uncertainty left in the form of an uncommitted, but not necessarily opposed, Senate. Security concerns regarding the Chinese-based parent company are claimed to be the root of the bill, with politicians fearing that ByteDance could be compelled to give U.S. citizens’ data to the Chinese government or help with election interference.
The veracity of these claims is dubious at best, but there is so much more underlying this bill that needs to be addressed first to understand why TikTok, and why now. TikTok caters and gives a voice to a very unique demographic both in American society and globally. Specifically, it has an incredibly young user base, which is generally much more progressive and a politically concerned group. This has been seen in the Israeli invasion of Gaza wherein politicians have claimed young people’s overwhelming condemnation of Israel is because of Tiktok’s influence. There have been threats to ban TikTok since 2020, but it is only now that they are actually following through. That is no coincidence. If their intention is to prevent support from growing for Palestine, or simply silence the current dissidents on the app, then this ban cannot be allowed.
It’s also no secret that TikTok is fundamentally different from any other social media app. It has revolutionized the social media market and defined the online experience of an entire generation, and that has garnered an incredible amount of popularity and money. Now all over the internet, it’s easy to find knockoff versions of what TikTok did, like Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts. It would be an incredible opportunity for companies like Meta if TikTok were to be banned right now, and they know it too. Since 2022, Meta has been campaigning hard against the app, even going as far as hiring GOP media firms to spread baseless claims about the app through local and national news outlets. In 2023 they spent $19.3 billion on lobbying efforts, making them one of the top 10 biggest spenders in politics right now and giving them a strong voice in politicians ears on topics like this. This is also a great time to mention Meta’s own problems with data security, as they are an incredibly pervasive company with a history of problems with international actors using public data. Yet, because of the influence of money and other factors in politics, the focus is not on them for all that they have done to the American public.
Now as for the claimed security concerns of the ban themselves, there are significant shortcomings. First, it is important to note that these fears are purely hypothetical. No evidence has ever been provided by government security officials to show that TikTok has ever been compelled by the Chinese Communist Party to do anything. In fact, past Intelligence Community threat assessments have found no evidence of coordination between TikTok and the Chinese government to influence past elections. TikTok’s CEO also vehemently denies that they have shared data with Chinese officials or ever would if they were asked to. The amount of hysteria regarding this topic is so widely inflated compared to the shocking lack of evidence to justify it. Security concerns are merely a facade with which to push an agenda being paid for by other interests.
Finally, I’d like to tackle the point made by politicians that this isn’t a ban, but rather a forced sale, a claim meant to reinforce the idea that the bill isn’t against TikTok itself, but rather the security concerns surrounding it. The idea that ByteDance would choose to sell TikTok because they would lose their American users is either an incredibly egotistical American viewpoint or just an attempt to obscure the ban as something else. TikTok does not survive just on its American viewers and the idea that it would sacrifice many hundreds of millions more users is absurd. Do not believe that this is anything but a TikTok ban, because if this bill is allowed to pass that is the only thing that is going to happen.
A bill of such blatant lies cannot be allowed to stand. A bill of such magnitude attempted to be passed under the noses of the American people cannot be reasonably said to be for our benefit. The TikTok ban is a gross example of dirty politics in America and all voters young or old should be watchful of what is going on here.