TikTok has been under fire in America for years now. Congress passed a new bill on Thursday that might be the app’s heaviest gut-punch.
Lawmakers unanimously passed legislation that would ban TikTok from American app stores unless it is divested from its parent company, ByteDance. The bi-partisan bill is in response to national security concerns surrounding the app.
The Concerns: Is China Spying on Americans?
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy and Principal Cyber Advisor to the Secretary of Defense, John Plumb, testified those concerns to the House last year. He called TikTok a ‘potential threat vector’, citing its alleged connection to the Chinese government.
“The problem with TikTok is that a large number of Americans use it, and China may have the ability to direct misinformation through it, as well as collect data from it,” said Plumb. “The scale and scope of the platform is problematic.”
Army Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, Director of the National Security Agency and Chief of the Central Security Service, also testified. “If you consider one-third of the adult population receives their news from this app, one-sixth of our children are saying they’re constantly on this app, if you consider that there’s 150 million people every single day that are obviously touching this app, this provides a foreign nation a platform for information operations, a platform for surveillance, and a concern we have with regards to who controls that data.”
“I think the broader discussion obviously rests with the policymakers now. Certainly, this is a piece that our nation has to consider,” he continued. US officials are concerned that China’s intelligence laws could enable Beijing to spy on user information TikTok collects.
The US has not presented evidence of their claims. Threats remain hypothetical.
TikTok is Leaning on Users For Support
The app has been greeting its users with full-screen call-to-action messages to fight against the bill, saying it “strips 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression.”
“This will damage millions of businesses, destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country, and deny artists an audience,” the notification continues. It’s true that millions of creators rely on TikTok to make a living. The app does bring joy to society. However, it may be at the expense of Americans’ safety. You have to wonder if it’s all worth it.
How TikTok Can Remain in App Stores (if bill is signed into law)
Lawmakers affirm that this is not a ‘ban’ on the app. They say they’re allowing TikTok to choose its fate. “It’s not a ban,” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WISC) said.
“It puts the choice squarely in the hands of TikTok to sever their relationship with the Chinese Communist Party. As long as ByteDance no longer owns the company, TikTok can continue to survive. People can continue to do all the dumb dance videos they want on the platform, or communicate with their friends, and all that stuff. But the basic ownership structure has to change.”
If signed into law, the bill gives ByteDance 165 days to sell TikTok or it will become illegal for US app stores (Apple, Google, etc.) to carry it.
