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TikTok, arguably the hottest social media app out there at this moment, has captured the imagination of millions of users worldwide – over 100 million in the U.S. alone, according to the company. Providing an outlet for creativity and entertainment, especially among Generation-Z, the app took on new meaning as the coronavirus triggered lockdowns around the world, and many people needed new ways to connect in hard times.
But now the app has become ensnared in a toxic web of politics, profit, and power – the latest victim of Trump's smear China campaign.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday issued executive orders that would ban the social media app TikTok from operating in the U.S. in 45 days if not sold by its parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance. His administration says the music video app poses a national security threat, an accusation the company has consistently denied.
Conveniently, an American company – Microsoft – said it's willing to step in and save TikTok's lucrative American business. Trump has given Microsoft his blessing to cut a deal and has also said the U.S. government should get money from the sale. How such a transaction would actually work, he did not mention. U.S. Republican senator Lindsay Graham has called the situation a "win-win." Did he mean a win for Microsoft and a win for Trump?
ByteDance, the app's Beijing-based parent company, sees things differently.
The company's founder and CEO Zhang Yiming said in an internal letter that, "We don't agree with the decision because we have always adhered to protecting users' data and maintaining the platform's neutrality and transparency." The company says it stores its data on American users on servers in the U.S. and Singapore. But no matter what the company says, and despite having no proof, critics won't listen.
Be bought or be banned – Trump's ultimatum stands.
The saga is evolving every day. TikTok users in America are enraged, and the outlook isn't looking too friendly for Chinese companies that dare to succeed in the U.S.
So how are the media covering the story? Are they asking the most important questions, or complicit in the Trump administration's attempt to smear the app?
A recent
Washington Post
piece suggests the latter.
A headline from August 3 says: "It's not just the United States: These governments see TikTok as a growing problem."
The article says critics in the U.S. have become "increasingly concerned that the app, which is owned by the Beijing-based internet technology company ByteDance, could give the Chinese government access to a wide range of user data." It adds, "But the United States is not alone. Here are some places that have raised the alarm over TikTok," going on to list eight countries.
But the countries listed have vastly different kinds of concerns over the app, even though the headline seems to suggest otherwise – false equivalence.
India banned the app earlier this summer, it says, which is true. But it did so in the wake of the border skirmish with Chinese troops in the Himalayas. Besides TikTok, 50 other Chinese apps were banned – this was more about politics than any national security concerns.
Pakistan and Indonesia are also on the list, but their concerns are about content, not data collection, and in Indonesia's case, the concerns were resolved two years ago.
The article also lists the European Union but then says the EU "hasn't issued any formal warning or ban on TikTok, but the app has come under scrutiny from the bloc's data protection watchdogs, who launched a probe into its privacy policies in mid-July."
But let's not forget that American tech companies like Twitter and Facebook are also knee-deep in controversy under Europe's regulation, which is consistently challenging tech companies over data security.
All these new apps raise important questions that should be explored. But you can't suggest all the concerns are the same or TikTok-specific. The article creates a false impression while missing the whole picture.
Perhaps one of the best quotes about the issue came from American Late Night Host Jimmy Fallon, who said: "With the coronavirus surging and the economy cratering, President Trump is turning his attention to what's really important, banning TikTok … Apparently, this is a very real national security threat, the Chinese government knowing which Americans can and can't dance."
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