If ByteDance, the social media app’s Chinese owner, does not sell its stake, the Biden administration has threatened to outlaw TikTok in the United States. Concerns regarding the security of American citizens’ data have grown among White House officials.
The United States’ courts rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to outlaw TikTok in 2020. As TikTok is popular among more than 100 million Americans and an app has never been outlawed in the nation, a national ban would face enormous ethical and legal challenges.
Below is what we currently know.
“Critics of TikTok accuse the app of “excessive data harvesting” and collecting details about users such as location. A 2022 report on cybersecurity published by Australia’s Internet 2.0 is often cited as evidence for these claims. Some U.S. officials are concerned that user data could be shared with the Chinese government, and that China could, in turn, use TikTok to influence and control Americans and their mobile devices.
Spokespeople for TikTok have denied any interference by the Chinese government.”
The White House instructed government organizations 30 days last month to make sure TikTok was not installed on any federally funded devices or systems. Also, employees are not permitted to use TikTok on equipment owned by the government in more than 30 U.S. states. Canada, the EU, and New Zealand’s governments have all implemented similar policies.
The White House this week backed a bipartisan congressional bill that would grant the federal government the authority to control and even outlaw technology made in China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela. Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act, often known as the RESTRICT Act, was described by the Biden administration as “a methodical framework for tackling technology-based threats to the security and safety of Americans.” But the law doesn’t specifically mention TikTok, the senators who introduced it made numerous allusions to the dangers the app poses.
How has TikTok reacted to this?
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has said that selling the app would not address U.S. security concerns in addition to denying any involvement by the Chinese government. Assuring that only Oracle Cloud and TikTok’s American data security team have access to U.S. user data is the company’s current strategy, according to Chew in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Chew will appear before Congress on March 23 to answer questions about the app’s security measures, including the platform’s effects on children and TikTok’s relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.
How can a nation prohibit an app?
In response to a border battle between India and China in a contested Himalayan region in June 2020, India banned TikTok and WeChat. The authorities compelled internet service providers to obstruct access and demanded Google and Apple to delete the apps from their Android and iOS stores. Afghanistan has also banned the app.
Countries can apply geo-blocking to websites that restrict access based on tracking your location and identifying your internet protocol (IP) address. In turn, companies can also apply geo-blocking within certain regions. There are different ways to bypass geo-blocking, including using a virtual private network (VPN) or proxy server.
What impact would a possible ban have on TikTok creators?
Around one billion people use TikTok daily across the globe, with more than 100 million of those people residing in the US alone. In the United States, it was the second most downloaded app in 2022.
For users with at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 video views in a 30-day period, TikTok introduced the Creator Fund in 2021. Those who are a part of the Creator Fund can get money based on video views and engagement, typically between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars a month.
Unsurprisingly, U.S.-based TikTok creators have spoken out against the potential ban, with some accusing the White House of attacking their careers.
So who’s gonna tell the Biden administration that some of us have built our literal careers on TikTok and if it gets banned we will actually have nothing? 🙃
— SpiritualiTEA (@Spirituali__tea) March 16, 2023
Some TikTokers believe that the ban isn’t related to national security, but rather the result of political meddling by Meta because of increased competition. Meta owns Facebook and Instagram. There’s no evidence that Meta is behind the recent bill, but Mark Zuckerberg did hire a GOP firm last year to malign TikTok and promote messaging that the app was harmful to American children.
