TIKTOK’S TALKING
The US moved a step closer to banning TikTok after the House of Representatives passed a bill with overwhelming bipartisan support calling for the app’s Chinese developer ByteDance to sell its shares or face removal from US app stores. The President backs the bill, stating he will sign it if it passes Congress. Legislators and the White House, however, are at odds with many of TikTok’s US users and digital rights groups who say a ban would violate freedom of speech. In the meantime, the bill faces obstacles including clearing the US Senate, where it will face a new round of scrutiny from legislators on both sides of the aisle.
The battle over TikTok is the latest front in US-China competition, reflecting Washington’s attempts to impede potential foreign influence campaigns. US lawmakers fear that ByteDance may be under the control of China, a claim the company denies. TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified before Congress, stating that ByteDance is privately owned and not controlled by the Chinese government. Despite his efforts, many US lawmakers and the White House believe that selling TikTok to a “qualified buyer” would cut off Chinese influence. The bill, however, does not stop there but opens up the same provisions for other “foreign adversary controlled” apps.
As mentioned above, TikTok has denied the charges levelled against it. CEO Chew’s testimony before Congress was widely perceived as “disastrous”, since he failed to dispel doubts about Chinese influence over the app. Critics, though, say the hearing was unsuccessful due to an attention-seeking attitude by legislators. Instead of being asked crucial questions, Mr Chew was grilled on whether he supports the Chinese Communist Party in scenes reminiscent of the US “Red Scare” of the 1950s.
Passing the bill into law would be a challenging task even in ordinary times, but this is also an election year in the US. It’s possible that progress may be delayed until after the November vote. Furthermore, ByteDance can also challenge any ban in US courts. But support and opposition to the bill do not fall along straight party lines. Even former US President Donald Trump and some Republican senators have changed their position on TikTok, hoping that in the near future this move could earn them votes with a younger generation. Meanwhile, several US states have taken the initiative to restrict the use of TikTok. Montana last year became the first state to ban the app, although a legal challenge is under way.
If the bill passes, it does not explicitly ban TikTok, but it gives ByteDance six months to give up its ownership. However, some observers argue this is a de facto ban since Beijing is unlikely to approve the sale of TikTok to a US-friendly company. “One reason why China may disagree to TikTok’s selling its majority stake is that TikTok is the first global Internet platform from China. “The Chinese government for years has wanted to increase its share of international discourse power about telling China story well, not having to rely on US platforms,” the China watcher Bill Bishop said. Beijing seems eager to protect the interests of Chinese companies overseas, claiming the US should respect the rules of a market economy and fair competition.
A 2021 analysis by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab examined TikTok and its Chinese sister Douyin for potential risks. The evidence was inconclusive regarding whether TikTok censors user posts for political reasons, and the analysis found no overtly malicious behaviour. Both apps also appeared to share the same restrictions for content labelled “hate speech”, with some political keywords restricted on Douyin but not on TikTok. “We observed that some of these customisations can be turned on or off but we could not confirm that this capability may be used to turn on privacy-violating hidden features,” Mr Lin of Citizen Lab said. TikTok’s addictive nature has also raised concerns over its potential negative influence on children, but critics of the ban claim that the same can be said about other social media platforms.
The bill is opposed by many TikTok users, particularly content creators. “Banning TikTok would restrict free expression. The government can impose a total ban if it’s the only way to prevent extremely serious harm to national security,” said Gorski of the National Security Project. “There’s no evidence of that type of harm. And even if there were, a total ban on TikTok wouldn’t be the only answer.” Unlike the EU, the US still does not have a unified federal data privacy law, something Gorski said would address many of the concerns around protecting US user data. Observers have also noted that banning TikTok alone would be hypocritical when all social media companies are carrying out questionable policies.