Why countries are trying to ban TikTok
In recent months, lawmakers in the United States, Europe and Canada have escalated efforts to restrict access to TikTok, the massively popular short-form video app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, citing security threats. The White House told federal agencies on Feb. 27 that they had 30 days to delete the app from government devices. Britain, Canada, the executive arm of the European Union and New Zealand’s parliament also recently banned the app from official devices. A House committee two days later backed an even more extreme step, voting to advance legislation that would allow President Joe Biden to ban TikTok from all devices nationwide. Here’s why the pressure has been ratcheted up on TikTok, which has said that it is used by more than 100 million Americans.
Why are governments banning TikTok?
It all comes down to China. Lawmakers and regulators in the West have increasingly expressed concern that TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, may put sensitive user data, like location information, into the hands of the Chinese government. They have pointed to laws that allow the Chinese government to secretly demand data from Chinese companies and citizens for intelligence-gathering operations. They are also worried that China could use TikTok’s content recommendations for misinformation.
TikTok has long denied such allegations and has tried to distance itself from ByteDance.
Have any countries banned TikTok?
India banned the platform in mid-2020, costing ByteDance one of its biggest markets as the government cracked down on 59 Chinese-owned apps, claiming that they were secretly transmitting users’ data to servers outside India.
What’s happening with bans in the U. S.?
Since November, more than two dozen states have banned TikTok on government-issued devices, and many colleges — like the University of Texas, Auburn and Boise State — have blocked it from campus Wi-Fi networks. The app has already been banned for three years on U.S. government devices used by the Army, the Marine Corps, the Air Force and the Coast Guard. But the bans typically don’t extend to personal devices. And students often just switch to cellular data to use the app.
Is Congress trying to ban TikTok?
Some members would like to. In early March, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to approve a bill that could grant a president the authority to ban the platform entirely. (Courts previously stopped a Trump administration effort to do this.)
In January, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri., introduced a bill to ban TikTok for all Americans after pushing for a measure, which passed in December as part of a spending package, that banned TikTok on all devices issued by the federal government. A separate bipartisan bill, introduced in December, also sought to ban TikTok and target any similar social media companies from countries like Russia and Iran.
What is the Biden administration doing?
TikTok said last week that the Biden administration wants its Chinese ownership to sell the app or face a possible ban. The administration has been largely quiet, although the White House recently pointed to an ongoing review, in response to questions about TikTok. TikTok has been in yearslong confidential talks with the administration’s review panel, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, to address questions about TikTok and ByteDance’s relationship with the Chinese government and the handling of user data. TikTok said it submitted a 90-page proposal in August that detailed how it planned to operate in the United States while addressing national security concerns.
The Justice Department has also been investigating TikTok’s surveillance of American journalists, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Can the government ban an app?
Most of the existing TikTok bans have been implemented at governments and universities that have the power to keep an app off their devices or networks.
A broader, government-imposed ban that stops Americans from using an app that allows them to share their views and art could face legal challenges on First Amendment grounds, said Caitlin Chin, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. After all, large numbers of Americans, including elected officials and major news organizations including The New York Times and The Washington Post, now produce videos on TikTok.
“In democratic governments, the government can’t just ban free speech or expression without very strong and tailored grounds to do so, and it’s just not clear that we have that yet,” Chin said.
What if I have TikTok when a ban is issued?
The exact mechanism for banning an app on privately owned phones is unclear.
Chin said that the United States could block TikTok from selling advertisements or making updates to its systems, essentially making it nonfunctional.
Apple and other companies that operate app stores do block downloads of apps that no longer work. They also ban apps that carry inappropriate or illegal content, said Justin Cappos, a professor at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering.
What has TikTok’s response been?
TikTok has referred to the bans as “political theater” and criticized lawmakers for attempting to censor Americans. “The swiftest and most thorough way to address any national security concerns about TikTok is for CFIUS to adopt the proposed agreement that we worked with them on for nearly two years,” Brooke Oberwetter, a spokesperson for TikTok, said in a statement. Separately, TikTok has been trying to win allies, recently making an uncharacteristic push in Washington to meet with influential think tanks, public interest groups and lawmakers.
Who else opposes a ban?
The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter in late February to the House Foreign Affairs Committee to protest its bill, saying that the legislation would violate Americans’ First Amendment rights. Of course, digital creators and marketers would hate to see the platform go away, and blocking a popular app could create a political backlash by young people.
What can I do now to protect my data?
To protect your privacy on TikTok, you can employ the same practices used to protect yourself on other social media platforms. That includes not giving apps permission to access your location or contacts.
You can also watch TikTok videos without opening an account.