The Clock Ticks on Tik-Tok

A Non-Tik-Toker's Take on the Possible Tik-Tok Ban

Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

I just may be the only young person in America without a Tik-Tok account.

Yet no one—not even me—can escape the consequences of Congress’s most recent piece of Tik-Tok legislation. Many of my friends use TikTok for a whole host of reasons. Some for the news, some for the laughs, and some for the social connections. In fact, I know a select few (like my old high school buddy Horchata Soto) have used social media like Tik-Tok to launch promising careers on the webosphere.

So I will try to approach the issue in as balanced a way as I possibly can. First of all, I agree with Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich that all social media sites should face far more extensive regulations and oversight than they currently do. As he put it, “[t]he [ultimate] issue here isn’t whether China or some American billionaire should own these platforms. It’s how to make them publicly responsible, regardless of who owns them” (emphasis mine). To that point, we should keep in mind that “patriotic American” billionaires like Elon Musk often have a history of cozying up to China.

American corporate interests are not necessarily American interests. We are in dire need of a full-scale reform of the toxic social media landscape. Tik-Tok, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and others clearly ought to be “treated as public utilities or common carriers,” and regulated with an eye to the public welfare. The Biden Administration should continue to encourage the work of aggressive antitrust enforcer Lina Khan to end the era of social media monopolies.

That said, Tik-Tok’s ties to China do pose a unique threat. In a divided Congress, we have legitimate reasons to focus our scrutiny on ByteDance. The Chinese Communist Party is not just like another average American billionaire. In the last 5 years, the Chinese government has directly orchestrated a systematic policy of human rights abuses and perhaps genocide. It has taken away freedoms the people of Hong Kong have enjoyed for decades. It has continued its brutal decades-long repression of the Tibetan people. Worst of all, it has launched a “widespread and systematic attack on Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang.”

Uyghurs have been harshly punished “for reasons as simple as practicing their religion.” Those “detained [in Xinjiang have reported] being forced to renounce their [religious beliefs]” (emphasis mine). Chinese officials in these prison camps have apparently required prisoners “to sing songs and make statements swearing allegiance to the [same] Communist Party” intent on erasing their culture. From there, prisoners have been subjected to a Chinese prison regime of torture, sexual violence, forced labor, and forced sterilization.

You may wonder why you do not here about this side of China more often. Part of the reason is—you guessed it—Tik-Tok. A recent study has identified “numerous instances” where Tik-Tok “seemingly [worked] in the Chinese government’s interests.” For example, “[i]n 2019 the Guardian reported that Tik-Tok instructed its moderators to censor videos that mention Tiananmen Square.” That same year, Tik-Tok stepped in to temporarily block “an American teenager…highlighting the repression of…[the] Uyghur minority” in China. That same study suggested that Tik-Tok has gone on to actively suppress pro-Ukrainian content, and mute social media chatter on China-sensitive topics like Tibet, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Unfortunately, the story of Tik-Tok’s politics has mostly gotten lost in the recent news cycle—for understandable reasons. However, that does not make it any less concerning. Via ByteDance, China might right now be working to push its particularly dangerous and oppressive agenda. In early April, they were already reportedly getting in the business of election interference against President Biden.

So why all the fuss about Tik-Tok? Because Tik-Tok allows China to get away with mass murder. Because Tik-Tok allows China to push the narratives it wants to push without any accountability whatsoever. Because Tik-Tok allows China to expand its authoritarian footprint all over the world.

And because Tik-Tok could allow the Chinese Communist Party government to participate in an unprecedented personal data collection operation. We young people really underestimate how much a trained algorithm can learn about us from just a small sample of our Google searches. Age, gender, marital status, income bracket, and personal interests. There is a risk that all of that information could fall into the hands of a hostile government with a history of violating intellectual property laws, using data as a weapon, and hacking into practically every aspect of American life.

Yet, some may still ask, is threatening to ban Tik-Tok the right approach to the problem? I am not sure. The ACLU has voiced concerns about what this legislation would mean for the future of free speech, and some federal judges have blocked Tik-Tok bans for just that reason. The recent Tik-Tok bill will face many of the same legal challenges come later 2024 into 2025, and whether the bill will survive those challenges is still an open question.

Regardless, the argument against a Tik-Tok ban should not be an argument for Tik-Tok’s value to the American community. Do Tik-Tok’s supposed benefits outweigh its central role in promoting a hidden pro-China agenda? Do the supposed benefits of Tik-Tok and other social media outlets outweigh their central roles in creating the current mental health crisis?

Not at all. That is why the app exported to young Americans is much different from the app presented to younger Chinese consumers. At home, the Chinese government has insisted on guardrails that simply do not exist on Tik-Tok Americana.

Take it from me: look past the latest ByteDance propaganda. Now is the time we should all take a good long break from Tik-Tok.