One thing U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree on is that TikTok is a national security threat. As a result, there is now a bipartisan push for it to get it banned outright. Last week, President Biden signed a new law barring the app from all federal government devices after states like Nebraska, Georgia and Texas enacted similar bans.
Even local city councils are going after the social media giant, which has now amassed over 85 million users in the U.S. alone. But all of these technical bans really only impact the government and government devices. TikTok is still free to use on any and all private devices. Still a larger concern remains: TikTok is owned by Chinese internet giant, Bytedance.
U.S. officials have said that because businesses in China aren’t truly independent from the government in Beijing, officials there could force TikTok to hand over data it collects on American users. What’s notable is that TikTok has already admitted to spying on American users and tracking journalists.
“And so all of these things are in the hands of a government that doesn’t share our values,” said FBI Director Chris Wray.
For some lawmakers, a ban that only pertains to government is not enough, and they are looking to block TikTok in America once and for all. An attempt made by former President Donald Trump, more than two years ago, was shot down by a judge partially over free speech concerns. Some national security experts say the tremendous reach of TikTok has made it only harder to ban outright. Many creators say they rely on the platform for their income.
TikTok calls the recent government bans a “political gesture” that will do nothing to advance national security interests.
