Earlier this month, members of Congress introduced a bill attempting to “protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications, such as TikTok…”. Despite the 170 million Americans on this app, its existence is threatened.
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There has been a rising concern from lawmakers on the continued use of TikTok due to its owner being a Chinese company, ByteDance. According to the New York Times, concerns have been raised about all user data (including location) as well as if misinformation can spread on the platform. I thought it was interesting to bring up concern specifically on TikTok for misinformation, as we learned in Gov how many other platforms have the same problem, even connecting to bias on specific news sources and narrowcasting. I guess you could argue that fewer news sources, will create a streamline, but I still believe any other social media is just as bad as TikTok. TikTok has been denying that it collects data on its users and states that 60% of ByteDance is owned by international investors anyway. However, it already has faced potential bans in many states and has been banned for 4 years already on US devices being used in the military. Our First Amendment right of free speech may be the reason to keep this app safe from the ban, especially considering how many users share news/information daily. The court agrees, saying this could be overstepping the power that states have and unless there is solid evidence of a national threat, there is not much that can be done by the government either. This is similar to what we previously have learned with the court cases and how far each Amendment right can go. For example, with Tinker v. Des Moines, the decision was that kids did have the right to express their First Amendment rights at school, and I believe it will probably be a very similar decision in this scenario. So, will a ban happen? I am not sure how likely that is, but currently, one goal (and what the Biden Administration hopes to do) is to sell TikTok to a new owner. Overall, I think the idea of TikTok being deleted altogether is pretty interesting considering how large of a platform it has become. What do you guys think, would a ban be overstepping our First Amendment right?
https://www.nytimes.com/article/tiktok-ban.html
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1237501725/house-vote-tiktok-ban
6 comments:
I don't really understand how the information on Tiktok, a public website, could be used by the Chinese Communist Party to target the US. There doesn't seem to be any evidence of data breaches either. Moreover, there are so many companies used by Americans these days with Chinese parent companies such as Lenovo, Shein, and Capcut (which is also owned by ByteDance). Will every Chinese based product be banned one by one in the US? Being honest, the whole ban campaign really just feels like some paranoid witch hunt similar to the anti-communist Red Scare.
I agree with Chinyi; I also don't see how the Chinese Communist Party would use information on TikTok to target the US in general. Moreover, Congress's proposal to sell TikTok to a new owner won't fix the issue if their concerns are based on national security. To answer Katie's question, I don't think a ban would happen because it would overstep our First Amendment rights, which many Americans find to be one of their most important rights in the Constitution.
I agree with Carissa that a ban on TikTok seems pretty unlikely. I don't think a ban like this would violate First Amendment rights to freedom of speech as it would apply equally to everybody without preventing the expression of one specific opinion or belief, but a ban would set a really strange precedent on banning foreign companies, like Chinyi mentioned.
I think the entire notion that we need to ban TikTok because the Chinese Communist Party is somehow going to be able to use the information to target the U.S is almost comical. I think the fact that they are considering banning an app that brings so many communities together and has given a voice to so many who might not have had one without it would be a mistake. I realize the dangers of social media and how it can seriously damage people's mental health and self-image, but I also think it can be a good platform to learn new things or explore more cultures. I've been exposed to so much more music, and not necessarily just "current" pop music, but music that when I played it, my parents would ask me how I knew this song because it was one they grew up listening to. I actually think I've learned a lot from the app, and I realize misinformation is also a big issue but if you make active efforts to fact check things you learn, I think it can genuinly be a pretty educational app. Going back to the point of the CCP point- I agree with Chin-Yi in that this is an issue that applies to many apps not just TikTok, and this entire ban feels like it has other underlying motivations that they don't want to say out loud.
Amidst an incredibly unproductive season of Congress (I think the current Congress might be breaking the record for least productive?) it is incredible that such bipartisan support emerges for a TikTok ban of all things. Congress made a fool of itself at its hearing for TikTok (e.g., https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IhvEU-6bnrM) and the CEO answered the questions pretty well. The bill seems even more necessary when TikTok already committed to “Project Texas”, their plan to have all American user data stored on American soil by an American company.
Is it possible that the Chinese government can use TikTok as some sort of weapon in a psychological war?
Yes?? I guess so. We have already seen social media's powerful effect on the general population (such as the widespread belief in the stolen 2020 election, culminating in January 6th). That said, better privacy, data, and misinformation regulations on ALL social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Gab, X, etc.) would combat this. Forcing a TikTok sale only reduces competition and makes Big Tech's hold on us stronger (mostly with Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts filling the void left by TikTok).
India actually banned TikTok outright (I think), so check out the effects of that if you're curious about how an TikTokless country looks (pretty similar to the country with TikTok anyways lol).
I agree with Taylor that banning TikTok ends up setting a bit of a concerning precedent regarding foreign tech companies, though I feel like the arguments against TikTok focus a lot more on the idea of the CCP targeting US civilians (better shock value) than the idea that there’s some simpler worry over breaches of American citizen data. Last year, some documents revealed that American user data (photo, IP, device ID, home country) was posted on an internal messaging platform called Lark, which “ByteDance workers in China and elsewhere could easily see” [1]. Moreover, that the company “declined to answer questions about the involvement of China-based employees in creating and sharing TikTok user data in Lark groups” does not fill me with confidence. I think debating a ban for reasons like this seems too strong of a response, but privacy is a legitimate concern, and enforcing privacy is easier with domestically based companies. Thus, while I think banning TikTok is too drastic a decision, some of its decisions with user data don’t seem too great.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/24/technology/inside-how-tiktok-shares-user-data-lark.html
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