TikTok Fined $600M for Failing to Protect User Data from China

Social Media,

The Wall Street Journal reports TikTok has been fined $600 million in Ireland over risks of Chinese surveillance.

With upwards of a billion users worldwide — including somewhere between 135 and 170 million in the U.S. — TikTok is among the most popular social media outlets on earth.

But TikTok isn’t just a phone app. It’s a major corporation, and its Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, has been valued at $300 billion.

However, TikTok has found itself embroiled in controversy for struggling to protect private user data from entities in China — including the Chinese Communist Party. The platform has been accused of serving users a steady “diet of darkness” online. TikTok also has been sued for allegedly violating U.S. laws intended to protect children.

Now The Wall Street Journal reports,

The Irish Data Protection Commission said Friday that TikTok had failed to demonstrate that any user data it sends to China would be protected from government access under Chinese laws covering things such as espionage and cybersecurity. 

The Irish regulator, which leads enforcement of the European Union’s privacy law for TikTok, ordered the social-video app to stop transferring user data to China within six months if it can’t guarantee the same level of protection as in the EU.

The watchdog also said TikTok last month admitted to storing limited European user data in China, despite having previously denied doing so. TikTok told the watchdog it has since deleted that data. The regulator said Friday it is discussing with EU counterparts whether it should take further action against the company over the matter. 

TikTok said it would appeal the fine, which totaled 530 million euros. The company contests the allegation that it isn’t giving European data enough protection, and says the decision primarily covers a period before it implemented new protections. TikTok added that it has never turned over user data to the Chinese government or received a request to do so.

It’s important to remember that in 2023, 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.

As we keep saying, social media platforms are not just websites or phone apps. These are multimillion 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 content, influence users, and harvest data on one of the world’s largest social media platform. That’s a serious concern.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

READ MORE

Arkansas Department of Education Offers Guidelines for Academic Bible Classes

Religious Freedom, ,

Recently we wrote about how the State of Arkansas lets public schools students learn about the Bible academically in elective classes.

In 2013 Arkansas passed Act 1440 by Rep. Denny Altes (R — Fort Smith) and Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R — Branch) to let public schools offer elective, academic courses that study “the Bible and its influence on literature, art, music, culture, and politics.”

The law says the course must be objective and nonsectarian, and it must meet the same academic standards as other elective courses offered in public schools. Anyone wishing to teach the course must be licensed to teach in the State of Arkansas.

In 2019 the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 1016 by Rep. Joe Cloud (R — Russellville), Rep. Jim Dotson (R — Bentonville), and Sen. Bob Ballinger (R — Ozark). Act 1016 helped make technical clarifications to Act 1440 of 2013.

This year lawmakers passed S.B. 223, the Religious Rights at Public School Act by Sen. Mark Johnson (R — Little Rock) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R — Heber Springs). This good law affirms public school students’ and teachers’ religious liberties, and it highlights the freedom that schools have to offer academic courses on the Bible under Act 1440 of 2013.

Under laws like these, the Arkansas Department of Education has written an academic framework for schools to use in structuring their Bible course.

The department’s academic framework says,

Academic Study of the Bible is a one-semester English elective course that is designed to strengthen students’ understanding of the Bible and its impact upon American culture. This nonsectarian, nonreligious, academic course integrates the study of the Bible as a piece of literature with art, music, literature, culture, and politics in order to understand the relationships between the Bible, society, and culture. As an English Language Arts elective, it is expected that students will develop and apply literacy skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The Academic Study of the Bible course does not need Arkansas Department of Education approval.

The academic framework also notes that the Bible courses must be taught objectively.

Over the past 12 years, different school districts in the state have chosen to offer academic courses on the Bible under this type of official state framework.

This year, Arkansas Department of Education data shows 264 public school students enrolled in courses to study the Bible academically.

It’s good to see Arkansas’ schools offering these academic courses on the Bible to students across the state. After all, no single book has been more influential on our civilization than the Bible.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

READ MORE