U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) recently expressed his concerns related to TikTok’s connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the threat against Americans' privacy data.
“It’s time to ban TikTok,” Tuberville wrote in a March 9 tweet. “China’s ability to access Americans’ personal data is a serious national security threat.”
According to Time, TikTok has responded to reports that the Biden administration wants Chinese owner ByteDance to sell its stakes in the app, calling the threat a measure that wouldn't improve national security. A recent report in The Wall Street Journal stated that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. is threatening to ban TikTok, unless ByteDance divests.
TikTok spokesperson Maureen Shanahan told Time, "Divestment doesn't solve the problem: A change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access." Shanahan instead called for a "transparent, U.S.-based protection of U.S. user data and systems" to address national security concerns with the implementation of robust third-party monitoring, vetting and verification.
Concerns surrounding TikTok's use of data and the possibility of the Chinese government obtaining access to American user data have led to the U.S. government's move to pass the “No TikTok on Government Devices Act," which bans the app on federal devices. Some state government departments have already begun implementing restrictions, and legislation is being moved in Congress to allow more control over TikTok.
An America First Policy Institute brief titled "Alarm Over TikTok Threat Reaches Critical Mass as Government Responds" explains, the short-form video app is a subsidiary of ByteDance, Ltd., which is based in Beijing and controlled by the CCP. The authors state that TikTok "serves as an ingenious data harvesting weapon for the CCP disguised as a social media platform and has become a dominant force in American youth culture." Their report found that TikTok "aggressively and surreptitiously collects data" from users.
TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2020, three years after its launch, with its popularity skyrocketing during COVID-19 lockdowns. The app now boasts 1 billion daily users, who are able to consume content curated by a personalized algorithm on topics ranging from beauty to politics.
The Colorado Attorney General's office has released a report on the use of social media platforms to sell illegal drugs, particularly fentanyl, in the state. The report identifies that social media platforms, including TikTok, provide an easy and anonymous way for drug dealers to advertise and sell their products, which has contributed to the rise of fentanyl-related overdose deaths in Colorado. The report also highlights the challenges law enforcement agencies face in monitoring and regulating these activities due to the speed and scale of social media platforms.
The report highlights that drug dealers use TikTok to advertise their products and direct potential buyers to encrypted messaging apps for transactions. The report also notes that TikTok has taken some steps to address this issue, such as implementing content moderation policies and banning certain hashtags related to drug sales, but more needs to be done to combat illegal activity on the platform.
