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I watched a TikTok video recently that explained how to fix a Wi-Fi router problem. It was really boring, but the video mentioned the actual Google router I use. In only a few minutes, I found out about a quick fix and I was back in business, surfing from a corner office in my house.
Over the last few years, I’ve noticed how TikTok has become almost indispensable in that regard. For whatever reason, we’ve gravitated to short-form video content, reels, and clips that last only a few seconds or (in my case, with the router) minutes but provide just the right amount of information. We’re all busy, overworked, and stressed, so flipping through TikTok videos relieves the tedium and solves problems.
Recently, the app has come under heavy scrutiny.
The Senate wants to ban the app from federally-owned devices — the measure will now move to the House and then to President Biden. Several states have proposed TikTok bans that restrict government use.
This is a serious move that has widespread ramifications. The Senate passed the measure quickly and is meant to address a possible threat from China when they harvest our data. States are concerned about government use of TikTok as well.
What’s at stake here is national security.
In one report, FBI Director Christopher Wray explained how the Chinese government could use data collected from TikTok to influence national operations, which likely includes things like voter turn-out during elections. In another report, TikTok was described as “an enormous threat” because of how the Chinese government could use the data collected from users to change the algorithm.
You can imagine how this might work. Let’s say you watch clips about a political issue. The algorithm could adjust to stop showing you those videos. If the algorithm can be manipulated, then so can the users. China could tweak what we see in the videos to support conspiracy theories, influence elections, or create dissension.
A larger issue here has to do with what we don’t know about the data harvesting. As is common when it comes to surveillance and security, the unknown threat from an app owned by a foreign entity is what concerns lawmakers the most.
We just don’t know how China would use the data they collect from TikTok. When unknowns are at play, the general consensus seems to be — ban the entire app outright, especially if there is a risk to national security.
What happens next? Banning the app entirely. Removing it from app stores.
For most of us, this is a serious issue, since we will have to decide how much data we want to hand over and to which entities. Many of us made a compromise with apps like Facebook and Instagram; we turn over our data and they sell us ads.
Those are American firms. TikTok is not. The geopolitical ramifications are real and tangible. When it comes to TikTok, the concern is more far-reaching. For now, the ban is not in effect yet, but the writing is on the wall. Now we just have to read the signs.
