TIKTOK TO BE BANNED IN AMERICA
Representatives from both parties subjected the CEO of TikTok to an intense grilling during a public congressional hearing last week amid intensifying sentiment to ban the popular social media platform in the United States.
While there were plenty of complaints about the content on the app, the core of the argument in favor of a ban centered around accusations that TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance are tools of China’s government that pose a major national security risk to Americans. Concerns about TikTok’s potential connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have existed for years, but the prospects that the app may actually be banned nationwide have become increasingly real in recent weeks.
On Sunday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the House would be moving forward with legislation to address national security fears around TikTok. Though he didn’t name a specific bill he might put up for a vote, there has been significant bipartisan support behind a plan unveiled last month that would grant the Biden administration broad authority to regulate tech produced by certain foreign countries, including China. The White House, which has reportedly been trying to convince ByteDance to sell TikTok to a U.S.-based company, has endorsed the bill.
The federal government and more than half of all states have already barred TikTok from official government devices. Blocking all 150 million American users from accessing the app would represent an unprecedented escalation in the ongoing technological power struggle between the U.S. and China.
Why there’s debate
Supporters of a nationwide TikTok ban say the app poses major national security risks for two main reasons. The first is that China’s government can use the app to spy on Americans and gather sensitive information it could exploit to harm the U.S. TikTok executives insist this fear is unfounded, but there have been multiple recent reports that suggest ByteDance has inappropriately accessed the data of American users. The second concern is that China could use TikTok’s sophisticated recommendation algorithm as a propaganda tool to suppress sensitive political topics and promote pro-Chinese viewpoints.
But opponents of banning TikTok, including several prominent progressive Democrats, say there has been no real evidence provided that ByteDance is actually filtering data to the Chinese government. Many make the case that the app is such an important communication tool, especially for younger people, that there needs to be unassailable proof that it's being exploited before such a drastic step is taken. Others argue that a ban would violate free speech rights and the government is unlikely to stop at a single social media platform if it’s given the power to shut down technology it doesn’t like.
Many tech experts also say banning TikTok would do next to nothing to protect Americans’ privacy because any internet user’s data is already widely available to China or anyone else who wants to buy it. They argue that if Congress was truly serious about defending sensitive information, it would pass comprehensive privacy protections that apply to all platforms — not just one that happens to be owned by a rival nation.
What’s next
Despite growing momentum in Congress to do something about TikTok, reports suggest there is still a lot of work to be done to get lawmakers to unify behind a specific plan and determine what role the White House will play
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