Should the US ban TikTok?
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If you’re one of the more than 87 million Americans currently on TikTok, prepare for some bad news. The app and its magical FYP, aka the free-time eater, could soon go away for good😱.
Indiana filed a pair of lawsuits against TikTok on Wednesday, alleging the short-form video platform violated state law by 1) not disclosing the Chinese government's potential to access sensitive consumer information, and 2) rating the app for ages 12+ despite easy access to inappropriate content.
The suits, which the Indiana AG said are the first of their kind, were announced the same day that Texas banned the use of TikTok on all gov’t-issued devices, making the Lone Star state the fourth to do so over the past nine days.
And it’s not just some states with concerns. On a federal level, the app is banned from all Department of Defense-issued devices – and just last month, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr was quoted in an interview as saying, “I don’t believe there is a path forward for anything other than a [blanket] ban,” in reference to the short-form video app.
⏩🚫 Why all the fuss??... To put it simply, many regulators and lawmakers in the US are worried about the app’s ability to pass data to the CCP. All companies headquartered in China – a box that Bytedance, which owns TikTok, solidly checks – are legally required to render assistance to the government whenever asked, which includes providing info on individuals, customers, and companies.
And while TikTok has maintained that it does not share data with China, only storing US users’ information in America and Singapore, a series of recent reports challenge this assertion.
- At least some TikTok engineers based in China had access to nonpublic US user information, including phone numbers and birthdays, BuzzFeed reported in June.
- And a Forbes report, published in late October, details how ByteDance planned to use the app to collect information about certain US users.
👀 Looking ahead… TikTok is currently in negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US over how – or if – it can continue doing business in America.
📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, should TikTok be banned from every device in the US?
See a 360° view of what the media is saying →
Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators on the left argue that while TikTok may pose security threats, a complete ban on all devices in the US would contradict the founding principles of America.
- Others contend that TikTok represents a major US data espionage problem, with tons of valuable information stored on the site and accessible to the Chinese Communist Party.
- “China’s TikTok is awful. It’s a spy. A brain drain. The US has no business banning it” –Kansas City Star Editorial Board
- “TikTok May Be More Dangerous Than It Looks” –Ezra Klein, NY Times
- “It’s Time to Get Real About TikTok’s Risks” –Lily Hay Newman, WIRED
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that TikTok could easily be forced to provide information on US government employees and citizens for espionage and blackmail if push came to shove with the Chinese Communist Party.
- Others contend that Americans have become worryingly addicted to the algorithms behind TikTok, and push for a blanket ban in the US to protect kids from falling prey to the app.
- “TikTok, time’s up. The app should be banned in America.” –Marco Rubio and Mike Gallagher, Washington Post
- “TikTok Is a Huge Threat to Our Democracy and Our Kids. Ban It Now” –Mark Weinstein, Newsweek
- “TikTok, not Twitter, is the real menace” –Marc A. Thiessen, Washington Post
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