© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
In a move that could lead to a ban on the social media app TikTok in the United States, the US House of Representatives passed a Bill on March 14. The Bill says that TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, must divest its stake from the app within six months, or the app would be taken off the Apple and Google app stores in the US and face restrictions on operations.
This is not the first such attempt. Ahead of the 2020 presidential elections, then US President Donald Trump signed an executive order asking ByteDance to sell the app within 90 days. Along with security concerns, he cited Covid-19 and said it originated from China, framing the ban as a retaliatory move.
That order faced legal challenges and was halted. Several US states have since banned the app on government devices, as have countries such as Canada and the UK. A few others, such as India, Pakistan and Nepal have instituted nationwide bans.
We explain what the ban seeks to accomplish, why TikTok, its users, and some US politicians have criticised it, and how China has reacted.
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, passed recently, says it aims “To protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications, such as TikTok and any successor application or service and any other application or service developed or provided by ByteDance Ltd…”
It now needs Senate approval to become law. US President Joe Biden earlier said he would sign it if it got passed in the House. The Bill also received rare political support across political divides, with 352 votes for it and 65 against.
Notably, Biden’s reelection campaign for the 2024 Presidential polls also joined TikTok in February this year, demonstrating the platform’s significance as a communication tool.
Since TikTok was launched in 2016, it has gained popularity globally. In particular, its short-duration videos are recommended to users thanks to a highly competent algorithm – a system that learns from user behaviour to recommend specific, engaging kinds of content.
Currently, there are around 170 million TikTok users in the US, which has a total population of 330 million. Users below the age of 25 are more likely to be on the platform compared to the age groups.
However, US government agencies such as the FBI and Republican politicians have often raised alarm about the possible collection of US citizens’ data and their surveillance through the Chinese-origin app.
Brendan Carr, the US Federal Communications Commission head, once wrote to leaders of tech giants such as Google and Meta on the issue.
“TikTok is not what it appears to be on the surface. It is not just an app for sharing funny videos or memes. That’s the sheep’s clothing. At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool,” he said, adding “India—the world’s largest democracy—has already banned TikTok on national security grounds for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting user data in an unauthorized manner.”
A report from the US Officer of the Director of National Intelligence said last month, “China is demonstrating a higher degree of sophistication in its influence activity, including experimenting with generative AI. TikTok accounts run by a PRC (People’s Republic of China) propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the U.S. midterm election cycle in 2022.”
Several Republicans also criticised what they termed an abundance of pro-Palestine content on the platform, following attacks on Israel on October 7.
Marco Rubio, a senator from Florida, linked this to China. “A regime that hates America controls TikTok’s algorithm and knows how to use it to divide and demoralize Americans,” he said in a statement in November 2024. “What we’re seeing right now is a real-life demonstration of that capability. We should have banned TikTok a long time ago, but this should be a wake-up call,” he added.
First, there are the app’s users. It has aided the rise of digital creators and small online businesses that use the app as a marketing and communications platform. Therefore, even though both parties’ politicians want to seem tough on China in an election year, there is some resistance to going against young voters.
Secondly, while acknowledging the threat from China, rights groups have questioned why US-based social media giants who store user data – such as Meta and X – have not been subject to the same scrutiny.
Also, if ByteDance divests and TikTok gets owned by a US company in the country to continue functioning, its owner would likely be another tech giant.
Earlier, Microsoft’s name was doing the rounds and critics argued that this could further strengthen the power and influence that a small number of tech giants wield, going against the idea of a free and equal internet.
Notably, Donald Trump has changed his views on the ban, saying it would benefit rival Facebook, which banned him from the platform in 2021 for supporting his followers in the rioting at the US Capitol.
“The answer to authoritarianism is not more authoritarianism,” AP reported California Republican representative Tom McClintock as saying. “The answer to CCP-style (Chinese Communist Party) propaganda is not CCP-style oppression. Let us slow down before we blunder down this very steep and slippery slope,” he added.
Over the years, ByteDance has denied the allegations that it is storing US users’ data in China or handing it over to the Communist Party of China.
“This latest legislation, being rushed through at unprecedented speed, without even the benefit of a public hearing, poses serious Constitutional concerns,” Michael Beckerman, TikTok’s vice president for public policy, wrote in a letter to the bill’s co-sponsors.
TikTok’s website also states that while ByteDance Ltd. was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, today, “roughly sixty percent of the company is beneficially owned by global institutional investors such as Carlyle Group, General Atlantic, and Susquehanna International Group”.
It points to its headquarters in Singapore and Los Angeles to emphasise its distance from China. “As is required under Chinese law, in order to operate certain news and information products that are offered exclusively in China, media licenses are required for those services. As such, an entity affiliated with the Chinese government owns 1% of a ByteDance subsidiary, Douyin Information Service Co., Ltd.”
Douyin is the version of TikTok that operates in China. “This arrangement is specific to services in the Chinese market, and has no bearing on ByteDance’s global operations outside of China, including TikTok, which does not operate in mainland China,” it adds.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, “Although the United States has never found evidence that TikTok threatens US national security, it has not stopped suppressing TikTok.” “This kind of bullying behavior that cannot win in fair competition disrupts companies’ normal business activity, damages the confidence of international investors in the investment environment, and damages the normal international economic and trade order,” he added.
