TikTok, the lucrative data business.
The recent passing of the H.R 7521 Act in the House has set the internet on fire. Known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, it was passed 352 to 65 with bipartisan support in the House of Representatives. This would mean a ban for TikTok unless it is sold and wholly owned by an American company, as it is a safety threat. It seems like everyone online is against the ban and call it unconstitutional. According to Congress, it is a matter of national security. Upon closer inspection, the conflict is that of data storage, and TikTok's alarming access to almost 170 million American's data and privacy. Washington wants TikTok to be owned by an American company, and for its Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell it outright. Many TikTok users and Gen-Z audiences believe that the ban of TikTok is unconstitutional and an infringement of individual rights and freedom of expression, however it is important to consider the national security risk that TikTok places on the United States.
TikTok is owned by its Chinese parent company Byte-Dance. Here are just some of the major security links associated with Chinese ownership of the platform:
Algorithmic Manipulation: TikTok, like many other social media platforms has an automatically generated feed which is sourced by an algorithm that ranks content in relevance and user interaction to ensure most compatible results. TikTok is famous for its incredibly addictive and efficient algorithm, hooking users on. TikTok's algorithm is internal, and it has resources to show whatever it wants to its users. This allows TikTok to manipulate its content to show a one-sided narrative to users. Today, there is a load of misinformation going around the platform and millions of users claim what they see on TikTok as reliable and accurate information.
CCP(Chinese Communist Party): TikTok's American data is stored in US based Oracle data servers. However, before 2022, the personal data of 170 million Americans used to be stored in China. Many claim that the CCP could have easily infiltrated this information. Moreover, their are many concerns that TikTok will not be able to deny a request of data transparency from the Chinese government itself.
Misinformation: The rise of AI, deepfakes, and fabrication of information has led to a extremely high influx in the amount of misinformation being spread to people on TikTok. Whether this be political agenda, financial deceit, or just misleading and malicious information, it is all over the platform.
So next time you open TikTok and start mindlessly scrolling, joining the sea of those against the TikTok ban, take a step back and ask yourself; how much TikTok knows about me and how much do I know about TikTok...
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