TikTok is a hugely popular short-form video app owned by the Chinese business ByteDance. In recent months, lawmakers in the US, Europe, and Canada have intensified efforts to restrict access to it, alleging security dangers.
Government officials in Washington have expressed worry that the Chinese government could hack the app and effectively spy on US users or access US user data. Others have expressed concern over the potential use of the app by the Chinese government to disseminate propaganda to US citizens. Both have as their central worry that any corporation conducting business in China would ultimately be subject to Chinese Communist Party laws.
Is TikTok really a threat to US national security?
Western legislators and authorities have grown more concerned that TikTok and its parent firm, ByteDance, may provide the Chinese government access to private user data, such as location data. They have cited legal provisions that permit the Chinese government to covertly request information from Chinese businesses and individuals for intelligence collection purposes. They are also concerned that China might spread false information via TikTok’s content recommendations.
The Chinese business ByteDance’s TikTok, which has raised concerns from governments, may be putting private user information at risk.
On February 27, the White House gave federal agencies 30 days to remove the software from government-owned smartphones. An increasing number of other nations and government entities have also recently prohibited the software from being used on official devices, including Canada, the executive branch of the European Union, France, and the Parliament of New Zealand.
On March 1, a House committee approved legislation that would have given President Biden the power to outlaw TikTok across the country from all devices, which was an even more drastic measure.
TikTok congressional hearing
March 23, Washington – U.S. legislators expressed their concerns on Thursday as they hammered TikTok’s CEO about potential Chinese influence over the site and claimed that its brief videos are harming children’s mental health.
Shou Zi Chew’s testimony before Congress did little to allay American concerns about ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok, which is based in China. Instead, it gave legislators’ proposals to outlaw the platform nationally new impetus.
Throughout the five hours of evidence, Chew insisted the platform was doing all possible to protect the safety of its 150 million US users and denied the app shared data or had any connections to the Chinese Communist Party.
The bottom line is that American data is stored on American soil, by an American company, and is supervised by Americans, according to Chew, who claimed that TikTok has been building what amounted to a firewall for more than two years to protect protected U.S. user data from unauthorized foreign access.
However, not a single lawmaker supported TikTok because they thought Chew’s responses on China were evasive and expressed worries about the influence the program has over American youngsters.
Others have charged TikTok with disseminating material that fosters child exploitation, the sale of illegal drugs, and eating disorders.
Will The Ban Implement Any Time Soon?
Talks of a TikTok ban date back to Donald Trump’s presidency, when he raised alarms that the app could pose a national security threat.
Pressure is mounting from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress to pass a national ban on TikTok. President Joe Biden approved a ban on TikTok on devices owned by government agencies in December, following a wave of primarily Republican-led states who had passed similar measures.
Although the US has millions of digital creators relying on TikTok for their survival. At this rate, Tiktok can be expected to get banned nationwide within this year.
