Beginning in 2020, the popular media app TikTok has faced both praise and criticism from U.S. citizens and the U.S. government alike. Regardless of opinion, it’s hard to deny this app’s influence on fashion, news, entertainment, advice, comedy, and just about any other area of life. So why is TikTok at risk of being banned in America?
To get up to date on the issue: in August 2020, former president Donald Trump used his executive power to enforce sanctions on the app out of fear of data siphoning by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance.
ByteDance is the Chinese-based tech company that owns the TikTok platform. Trump and other U.S. officials have insisted that the company is stealing data from the app’s users and handing the information to the Chinese Communist Party. There is no viable evidence that this exchange is occurring, although the country does have national power to solicit the data.
TikTok is also open about the data it collects in its privacy policy, which is similar to what American tech companies such as Apple and Google gather from their platforms.
So, the American government has insisted that using TikTok creates a national security risk, but what does TikTok have to say about the ban?
They say quite a lot. In its petition, TikTok Inc. and ByteDance LTD. v. Merrick B. Garland, the company writes “that law — the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the “Act”) — is unconstitutional.” The U.S. ban on TikTok infringes on American citizen’s First Amendment right to free speech. Banning TikTok, the company argues, means enforcing censorship of American media and could set a harmful precedent in future cases.
TikTok has had a tremendous impact on the concept of social media. The development of the short-form video format paired with endless scrolling ability was revolutionary. Since its creation, many other social media apps like Instagram and YouTube have introduced short-form videos on their platforms.
This video format has created an attainable method for users to access information in quick and condensed ways. It has made a large space for people to interact and communicate based on their interests. This is mainly influenced by TikTok’s effective algorithm system. As a whole, the app works to foster inspiration, information, and interaction.
One might assume we’d get a feel for how the court might side, but the issue is still in obvious disagreement. Both sides are facing a stalemate: TikTok is arguing over unfair and unconstitutional bias against ByteDance while the U.S. continues to insist on an ultimatum: ByteDance must sell TikTok to an American company by January 2025 or have the platform banned.
This is unlikely because TikTok’s specialized algorithm is vital to the app and is not expected to be successfully sold to an American company. WIRED’s Vittoria Elliott says, “You could sell the brand that is TikTok, but it would kind of be like a human body with the spine ripped out of it.” Without its accompanying algorithm, the user experience would be fundamentally altered.
The ruling of the hearing is to be released on Dec. 6, but it’s expected that the losing side will appeal it, sending the issue to the Supreme Court to handle.
The uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the ban is attributed to the fact that much of the evidence is under seal. The reasons why TikTok is considered such a significant national security risk have not been made public.
The future for the popular app may look bleak, but TikTok’s CEO, Shou Chew, is committed to defending the platform. In his statement, he encourages the app’s users to keep lobbying against the ban and to bring awareness of TikTok’s positive influence on them.
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