The proposed banning of TikTok

TRUMP'S TIKTOK BAN IS UNJUSTIFIED Due to security concerns, Trump wants to wrongfully ban TikTok

NICHOLAS SKAPOF opinions staff

TikTok, a popular social media platform best known for lipsyncing teenagers, has recently been designated a national security concern and is in danger of being banned. While fears over a potential security threat are understandable, there simply isn't enough evidence to warrant a ban.

TikTok is owned by a company called ByteDance, one of the largest tech companies based out of China. A 2017 Chinese law requires that any Chinese company give their data to the government if requested. This means that if TikTok were asked, they would have to give all the American data they collected to China. Understandably, this is being treated by the American government as a potential national security threat. The distrust of this application is largely bipartisan, with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer echoing President Donald Trump’s concerns and agreeing with the president’s call for a ban on the app.

While TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance claims that data collected from the U.S. and China are kept completely separate, with U.S. data only being stored in the U.S. and Singapore. According to ByteDance, this data has never been shared with the Chinese government. An investigation or audit would be sufficient to verify Bytedance’s claims; because there is currently no evidence of these claims being false, an outright ban is not justified for the time being.

Furthermore, TikTok’s data practices are no different than American social media platforms. Facebook, for example, frequently appears in the news for data breaches, election meddling and other sketchy practices that should be just as scrutinized as TikTok's actions. All social media platforms make money from collecting and selling user data to third parties; TikTok is no different. Thus, a ban is an unnecessary overreaction.

While TikTok’s security concerns should be taken very seriously, the company is no different than any other domestic social media company in the U.S. TikTok should not be singled out solely because of its connection to China. With the information currently available, TikTok’s security concerns are not severe enough to warrant a ban. p

TIKTOK TAKEOVER

The numbers behind TikTok's popularity Sources: CNBC and Wallaroo Media

100

million active users in the U.S.

60

percent of U.S. TikTok users are aged between 16 and 24

130 million U.S. downloads in the first quarter of 2020

800

percent increase in userbase since January 2018 illustration by | CAROLINE EDGAR