The fears that Chinese authorities could request access to TikTok user data and thus manipulate it are a possible but unproven claim. American lawmakers and politicians (regardless of party affiliation) believe there is both smoke and fire.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved a bill that could result in banning TikTok in the United States unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells the social media platform. The bill, once signed by the president and not overridden by both houses, becomes law and is assigned an official number.
The proposal, approved by all members of the committee, gives ByteDance 165 days to sell TikTok. If the company fails to sell within that time frame, app downloads and updates will be suspended on Apple and Google app stores, and U.S. web hosting companies will be banned from supporting apps controlled by ByteDance. Why are American lawmakers, and not just them, afraid of TikTok?
Firstly, the numbers, which speak to the strength and influence of TikTok and why it is a target. TikTok has more than one billion monthly active users worldwide. The Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, had 750 million daily active users in 2023. TikTok has over 2.5 billion daily active users worldwide when both versions of the app are combined. In the United States, TikTok has approximately 150 million monthly active users, with a significant share of users aged 24 or younger. American adult users spend over four billion total minutes per day on TikTok according to 2023 data.
IF THE TIKTOK BAN LAW IS CONFIRMED IN THE US, WILL OTHERS FOLLOW, INCLUDING THE EUROPEAN UNION?
The numbers indicate the strength of audience reach, so it’s no wonder that concerns have arisen among American lawmakers. It all starts with the fear that Chinese authorities could request access to TikTok user data. These and other concerns are based on the Chinese legal framework, the National Intelligence Law enacted in 2017 and amended in 2018. It mandates that organizations and citizens must support, assist, and cooperate with Chinese intelligence agencies.
There is also fear that the government has access to TikTok’s algorithm and thus shapes what users see on the platform, either by censoring content or promoting propaganda. This is particularly relevant for Americans in the presidential election year.
There is also fear that a significant amount of personal data of American users could be used for identification and potentially recruiting spies or blackmail. As Forbes reported, ByteDance confirmed last year that TikTok tracked journalists, their locations, and IP addresses to determine who was leaking internal company news.
This is enough reason to believe that the practice already exists. From all of this, it follows that the main problem is the unclear relationship between the Chinese parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, and the authorities in Beijing, which, of course, is not publicly defined and confirmed. Despite TikTok’s efforts to convince American lawmakers that it is free from the influence of the Chinese government, doubts remain. There is little real evidence presented to the public, and all of these concerns are hypothetical but not impossible, given what is publicly known about Chinese laws and the ownership structure of TikTok. Since this proposal is being pushed, it is likely that American intelligence agencies and lawmakers have knowledge that is not being disclosed.
NO, WE ARE INDEPENDENT, SAYS TIKTOK ByteDance and TikTok have strongly opposed the bill, arguing that it violates Americans’ rights under the First Amendment. The First Amendment states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or, importantly in this case, abridging the freedom of speech through TikTok posts.
Otherwise, the First Amendment has been mentioned so much in all discussions about social media that its interpretation should be redefined considering how much its interpretation is stretched. TikTok’s argument is also that the potential law would harm millions who create content and thus earn, which is obviously a global, not just American, problem. The number of influencers who would lose their jobs is a truly tragic forecast and a first-world problem.
TikTok is not standing still and is trying to mobilize its user base to contact representatives in Congress and express their opposition. The potential law is also being protested by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and some Democratic Party representatives. They argue that it could set a dangerous precedent by infringing on freedom of speech, again, the First Amendment, and violating the right to privacy. They also wonder if lawmakers fully understand the technology they are trying to regulate, which is actually not a stupid question.
The biggest wonder is that the bill has received support from representatives of both parties, a very rare occurrence in today’s polarized American political scene. It is supported by President Biden, a Democrat, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican. The next step is a vote in the House, scheduled for next week. However, its fate in the Senate is still uncertain.
AMERICA IS PUSHING THE LAW, WHO WILL FOLLOW? The question is how other governments around the world will react if there is a law. Authorities in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, India, Taiwan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Japan, South Korea, to name just a few, and in the European Union have long ago passed laws banning the use of TikTok on government officials’ phones. The French went a step further and, in addition to TikTok, banned X, Instagram, Netflix, Candy Crush, and other games as well as dating apps.
The European Union is currently reviewing TikTok. A month ago, it launched formal proceedings against TikTok under the Digital Services Act (DSA) due to concerns about online content and child protection. The investigation focuses on various aspects, including the protection of minors on TikTok, advertising practices, algorithmic systems that can harm users by manipulating content, and whether there are effective age verification checks and transparency regarding ads.
TikTok succumbed to the influence of the Russian government and banned content from foreign creators in Russia. According to the efforts of the research collective Tracking Exposed, Russian citizens can only see content from Russian accounts. Many of these accounts spread pro-invasion views and actively work to suppress dissent. It has been revealed that Russia uses the app to push its own narrative in an effort to weaken Western support for Ukraine. This finding contradicts TikTok’s claim that it is fighting disinformation and blocking accounts and content that spread alleged manipulation and disinformation.
