As we discuss technology, A.I, and apps in relation to national security, I wanted to talk about TikTok. The app is famous for its entertaining 15 – 60-second videos and has boomed globally during the pandemic causing much distress in Washington. Though concerns around the app have always existed one being that it is “a potential spying threat” so much so that Chuck Schumer and Tom Cotton called for an assessment of the app last year. In their statement, they cite the ByteDance owned, Beijing-based app’s threats listed in the terms of service “it collects data from its users and their devices, including user content and communications, IP address, location-related data, device identifiers, cookies, metadata, and other sensitive personal information”. With the app’s US downloads peaking in March, the Trump administration is looking to ban more Chinese apps as the TikTok sale is currently stalled. The greatest fear, it seems, is that the app will collect data from Americans then turn it over to the Chinese Communist Party and then push propaganda onto its users through the algorithm the app creates for each user. Senator Josh Hawley cites another concern: TikTok’s desire to influence. Hawley warns that TikTok may follow Google and Facebook and “try to influence the Capitol and exert influence here, and Google and Facebook have done that to great effect”.
TikTok has stated that they store all US user’s data in the United States with a backup in Singapore and that their data centers are not subject to Chinese law as their data centers are located outside of China.
Meanwhile, opposition has grown against this administration’s efforts to ban the app. The ACLU tweeted their disagreement saying banning the app “is a danger to free expression and technologically impractical.” They rebutted the administration’s argument over the collection of American data saying “To truly address privacy concerns with companies like TikTok, Congress must ensure that ANY company that services US consumers cannot hand over our data to any government without a warrant or equivalent. Letting the president selectively ban platforms isn’t the solution.” An article from the Atlantic Council echoes the ACLU tweets citing the sudden US National headlines TikTok made as it’s popularity grew sharing political activism (and dance videos of course). The article argues that the Trump administration has “not presented any substantive evidence why TikTok is a national security threat to the average American consumer” and that banning the app would be a lot like China’s censoring of internet usage.
TikTok made headlines again after its influence in the small turnout during Trump’s Juneteenth rally in Tulsa. Teen users of the app created videos explaining how to “tank” the rally and they succeeded in making the rally organizers believe there would be a much larger turnout than there actually was. Supporters of the app cite this event as a possible reason for Trump’s demand to ban it completely. Though on surface level it may seem like the app is to “blame” the reality is that the rally took place in the middle of a pandemic and the organizers did not do an adequate job of pulling in reservations.
I agree with the ACLU’s statement that though privacy and data issues must be addressed for any app, not just TikTok, banning this app altogether is an infringement of freedom of expression. Is it a national security threat in of itself? I don’t think it could be any more or less of a threat than Facebook which played a role in the 2016 election and Brexit. If one app or social media site is a threat, then I am sure all of them are also a threat to an extent as they all have access to the same user information.
Victoria,
You have provided an excellent and sophisticated summary of the current controversy over TikTok. You really got the facts right and your analysis is impressive. It’s hard to know whether the opposition of the Trump administration is simply a part of their effort to vilify the Chinese, since they are doing much the same thing with Huawei, which makes digital phone and switches, or if there is actually some valid basis for concern about a possible threat connected to the access to the data. Based on my perception of the manner in which Trump works, and my own experience working in the Pentagon on technology security, I am inclined to think this is, as Shakespeare stated: “Much ado about nothing”!
–Professor Wallerstein