The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that a federal appeals court ruled the U.S. can ban TikTok if the social media giant fails to cut ties with China. The ruling upholds a federal law congress enacted over national security concerns.
With approximately one billion users worldwide — including upwards of 135 million or more in the U.S. — TikTok arguably is one of the most popular social media platforms on the planet. Its Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, has been valued at $300 billion.
Despite being a popular, multibillion-dollar corporation, it seems TikTok has failed to overcome some very serious failures. The platform has struggled to protect private user data from entities in China — including the Chinese Communist Party — and it has been accused of serving users a steady “diet of darkness” online.
Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Justice actually sued TikTok for allegedly violating federal laws intended to protect children online, and Canadian authorities recently ordered TikTok to stop operating in their country, citing national security concerns.
Elected leaders from Arkansas have expressed their concerns about how China might manipulate TikTok.
As U.S. Congressman Bruce Westerman pointed out last March,
Although TikTok executives claim that it does not share any data collected by the app, there are several Chinese laws in place that provide CCP [Chinese Communist Party] officials access to all user data collected by Chinese-owned tech companies, like TikTok. This means the CCP has access to sensitive data, like the location of every TikTok user worldwide, including the over 210 million Americans who have downloaded the app.
In 2022, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, saying in part,
TikTok captures vast amounts of private information on users, including American citizens, and has long been suspected of providing the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] with potential access to that information. This threatens the safety and security of American citizens, and also functions as an avenue for the Chinese government to track the locations of and develop blackmail on Federal employees and contractors.
Last year Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin filed two lawsuits against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance.
The A.G.’s lawsuits allege that TikTok and ByteDance failed to fully disclose that the company is subject to Chinese laws that mandate cooperation with intelligence activities of the People’s Republic of China and that TikTok aggressively collects sensitive user data. The lawsuits are ongoing in state court.
As we keep saying, social media is more than just websites or phone apps. These are multibillion dollar businesses owned and operated by investors and other interests. If the Chinese Communist Party can influence TikTok, the CCP may be able to manipulate users or harvest sensitive data on one of the world’s largest social media platforms. That ought to concern everyone.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
