Banning TikTok is for the Best
Photo by Cottonbro Studio from Pexels.
Emma Vlaski
TikTok, a Chinese-owned social media app, came to the West in 2018 when the app merged with the popular dancing app Musically. In 2020, the app exploded in popularity during lockdowns as a way to connect while stuck inside. The app currently stands at having 1.1 billion users, with the greatest number being from the United States (approx. 170 million users), and there is no question as to why. It offers users the ability to post short-form videos (no more than three minutes long) and endlessly scroll through an infinite amount of short-form videos made by other users. These videos are personally catered to consumers using an algorithm that collects data from searches, liked videos, time spent on videos, messages, location, and more in order to keep the attention of their users for as long as possible.
However, the app is currently at risk of being banned in the U.S. due to national security threat concerns as lawmakers have cited that TikTok being owned by the Chinese company ByteDance potentially means that the Chinese government has extensive knowledge on U.S. citizens that can be used to undermine America. This concern is made far more credible when coupled with the fact that China has a law that can force Chinese companies, including ByteDance, to hand over data to the government. So far, the House has passed the ban in a rare bipartisan vote of 352-65 (50 Democrats and 15 Republicans voted against the ban, likely due to large social media followings and/or the want for support from young voters that enjoy social media like TikTok).
The bill will move on to the Senate where the fight will continue, and, if the bill is passed by both the House and Senate, it will go on to President Biden who has stated that he would sign the bill (though, there is also the risk of the bill being challenged in federal courts if an organization believes it to be unconstitutional). This bill would give TikTok six months to be sold from ByteDance (the Chinese parent company that owns the app) and remove all ties with China. Not only this, but the House has also stated that the app must be sold to a buyer that the government signs off on, and that ByteDance is allowed no connection to TikTok after the sale. If ByteDance fails to sell the company within the terms outlined it would become illegal for Apple and Google to have TikTok on their respective app stores.
Why do lawmakers believe there is a national security threat?
With America having the greatest number of TikTok users worldwide, ByteDance thrives off of the American public. Along with most other social media apps, TikTok states that “We automatically collect certain information from you when you use the Platform, including internet or other network activity information such as your IP address, geolocation-related data, unique device identifiers, browsing and search history (including content you have viewed in the Platform), and Cookies.” This means that they have an abundance of personal data on 170 million Americans that can be used to manipulate the public and possibly threaten the well-being of the US.
While it is a fair argument that essentially all social media apps collect the same or similar data as TikTok does (and I believe no company should have as much access to user data as they currently do), the main difference is that Meta and Google—which run Instagram and YouTube, respectively—are American companies. A domestic company having access to user data is nowhere near the threat that TikTok poses being owned by a Chinese company.
China being communist means that they are against how our capitalist country is run. People in China are not given the same freedoms as Americans are, and what they see online and in real life is filtered by the government. Using data collected from users, there lies a possibility that elections can be manipulated through pushing extremist videos to American users in order to shape the public into having the beliefs that China wants.
While people like to believe they can think for themselves and never be manipulated or persuaded heavily by others, psychology says otherwise. We are a social species that mirrors and learns from others, and anyone can be pushed to think a certain way. This psychological weakness in our species can be utilized by China in the form of constantly pushing polarized content onto a user's feed, resulting in the mere exposure effect (the tendency to prefer certain things and beliefs because they become familiar) to take place within the minds of consumers. The algorithm does all the work to make this possible as, when political content is engaged with, the algorithm picks up on it and pushes similar videos to keep a user scrolling. This results in only one side of an argument being shown, and slowly causes a person to lose the ability to form an opinion on their own after weighing different sides of an argument because they have lost access to multiple perspectives.
Using the extensive data that has been collected from half the American population, China absolutely has the power to use TikTok and turn people into sponges that absorb ideas from one far side of a large spectrum to become part of either of the two extreme hiveminds that can almost never seem to agree. Over months and years of work, elections can be rigged by an outside force that manipulates our citizens, and our country can be destroyed by polarization from inside. This is backed by a top US intelligence official who released a report that has been shown to state: “The Chinese government had used TikTok to promote its propaganda to Americans and to influence the 2022 midterm elections. This year, the report warned, China’s ruling Communist Party may try to influence the presidential election and ‘magnify U.S. societal divisions.’” Even with this report, it is likely that no one in America truly understands what is going on behind the scenes in China, but one must realize the power they hold in having the ability to manipulate and lead half our population into a rabbit-hole of brainwashing content.
Not only this, but China is also attempting to not be looked at unfavorably by American users in order to continue this streak. China has been known for its abysmal treatment of certain ethnic groups within their country, the most prominent being the Uyghur Muslims that have been placed into state-sponsored camps that run on forced-labor, the suppression of religious practices, political indoctrination, forced sterilization, forced contraception, and forced abortion. Yet, these topics–along with other things and people that China dislikes such as the Hong Kong protests and Tibetians–are difficult to find on TikTok compared to other social media platforms as found by a research group from Rutgers University. Why don’t the same criticisms that are placed on America’s past by many on TikTok reach what China is doing in the present? It’s likely because China wants American TikTok users to think that way. The best way to ruin a country is to make its citizens hate it and dismiss the free capitalist system it holds in favor of China’s restrictive communist system. People on TikTok suggest that our country, that has a low unemployment rate, falling inflation, and does not imprison ethnic groups, is in worse shape than during the Depression in the 1930s and oppressive countries that impose extreme restrictions and deplorable living conditions on its citizens.
With all of this (and possibly other evidence that has not been disclosed to the public), it’s no wonder that this bill has overwhelming bipartisan support. In addition, this ban has already been enforced in other countries on government devices, such as Canada and the UK, and the US has recently followed suit with a ban of TikTok on government devices since December of 2022. Some countries went even further, like India (along with Nepal and Pakistan) fully banning the app for the 200 million Indian citizens on it, as well as many other Chinese apps, in 2020 after a deadly clash on the India-China border.
Criticisms
Jamaal Bowman, a democratic representative from New York, is the leader for the opposition of the TikTok ban, and I believe it is important for both sides to be heard in order to form an opinion that affects half the American population. Bowman believes that there is no evidence to base national security threat concerns on and that the opposition is filled with “xenophobic and anti-China rhetoric.” While at first glance he has a point, in the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition, xenophobia is defined as the “dislike or prejudice against people from another country.” From my research, none of the arguments for the ban are against the people of China. They are against a foreign, communist, superpower government having immense data on U.S. citizens that can be used against our citizens and country. The Chinese population has nothing to do with TikTok; therefore, his emotional fallacy that was created to make people feel guilty for having concerns over a foreign government having the power to force its companies to hand over data that can be used for malicious purposes, is a pathetic attempt at earning support against the ban. On top of this, his statement that there is no evidence to base national security threat concerns means that he does not understand the scope of power that China holds with its access to American data, or it may simply stem from the fact that he is a politician attempting to appease younger voters that are avid TikTok users to in order to get reelected. Donald Trump also switched his position on TikTok for presumably the same reason (along with the fact that one of his big donors is a TikTok investor and would lose money if it was banned), going to show that political party does not matter in this case, greed matters.
Other arguments that do not rely on fallacies do bring up good points, such as how some say that passing of this bill would be impeding on Americans’ First Amendment rights. While I do see how one can come to this conclusion, one must also realize that America is not China. America does not filter anything online like China rigorously does in order to keep its citizens in check. Americans are able to go on any other social media app and exercise their Freedom of Speech the exact same way as they would on TikTok, especially with the rise of YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels.
Along with this, while I do not believe rights are being restricted in the TikTok situation, the government has the power to restrict certain rights when it is proven that it is for the greater good of America and its citizens. For example, the tightening of borders and TSA (Transportation Security Administration) was in response to 9/11 in hopes of greatly reducing the possibility of a terrorist threat against the US. TikTok being banned is not anywhere near the restrictions that came about after 9/11 because it’s only getting rid of a means for Freedom of Speech, not Freedom of Speech itself; again, any other social media platform can do what TikTok does. To use an analogy, it would be like speaking to a crowd on a microphone that stops working in the middle of your speech, so you simply pick out a different backup microphone and carry on where you left off. Freedom of speech is not being restricted, a national security threat is.
Another argument often heard from people who enjoy using TikTok is that it is educational, and a ban would result in losing a huge source of information; however, this ties in close to how the elections can be rigged by manipulation. Misinformation can run wild as anyone can say and post almost anything. Any video can go viral, whether factual or not, and can infiltrate and shift the beliefs of masses of people. On top of this, the algorithm can show similar videos that push misinformation as they bring in engagement. A Pew Research study, conducted using a survey from September 25 - October 1, 2023, shows the impact non-factual content can have on the population as it was found that 44% of people aged 18-29 regularly get news from TikTok, followed by 38% of 30-49 year olds, 18% of 50-64 year olds, and 4% of those 65+. For example, the idea that Hellen Keller, a blind and deaf woman that didn’t let her disabilities impede her life, never existed is a common belief that is spread around TikTok. While it may have begun as a joke, people now genuinely believe a conspiracy theory that greatly undermines her story without doing any further research into her life. Not only this, but people have also recently been praising Osama Bin Laden, the man who orchestrated 9/11 that resulted in the death of 3,000 people and a forever-changed America, because of his “Letter to America” that went viral on TikTok. People claim that it was eloquently written and made good points on an alternative perspective on the U.S., perpetuating a hatred for a country with exceptional living standards and making restrictive countries, like China, look desirable.
One may also believe that because they are consuming copious amounts of information in a very short span, they are learning. However, psychology shows that any information you learn will mostly be forgotten once nine hours have passed since learning. One must continuously use information in order for it to be remembered, otherwise it will be cleared out for more relevant information in the future.
If you use TikTok daily I want you to think back to the last time you used it, how much do you truly remember? Or, were you just scrolling to waste your limited time on this Earth that could have been spent pursuing interests or being with loved ones?
There’s a reason that schools don’t use short-form videos to teach students, and why students often complain about not getting a quality education when a teacher only uses videos: it’s because people simply do not learn that way.
TikTok is not an education as many claim it to be; when people say “I learned more on TikTok than in school,” what they’re truly saying is that they believe sitting for hours on end and mindlessly scrolling through the lives of others is more helpful than a system literally created to teach. If one feels they did not learn in school, they either had lamentable teachers, did not (or were unable to) apply themselves, and/or did not take classes that actually taught them skills. You can learn some fun facts here and there on TikTok, or learn about music, shows, or games you may like, but short-form videos are not a means to educate and be educated.
However, one of the biggest points commonly brought up by those against the ban, and even TikTok executives, are the small businesses that thrive off of viewers buying products and content creators that rely on the Creator Fund, which is money that has been allocated by TikTok to pay certain creators that fit into the criteria, that pays based on views. However, how can one expect to make a sustainable living off an app that can ban them or take them off the creator fund at any time, and are not required to accept challenges to these decisions? How can one expect to make a sustainable living off of viewers that can “cancel” them or simply lose interest at any time? Before social media, few people put all their eggs into an unstable basket; now 57% of Gen Z and 41% of adults have stated they would become an influencer if given the opportunity– the top dream job for people ages 13-17 has no established income, insurance, support, and no considerable benefit to society.
Leaving this world better than one found it can stem from creating fun videos, but there needs to be a balance. Society needs plumbers, doctors, teachers, and tons of other jobs that are facing shortages; we don’t need and cannot have the majority of a generation chasing fame on a data-stealing app that millions of others post on just to be scrolled past by others without much thought. There is nothing wrong with posting content for fun or as a side-hustle, but one must come face-to-face with our reality that social media may not last for a lifetime.
As mentioned earlier, India banned TikTok in 2020 after a violent clash on the India-China border. Before the ban, 200 million of its citizens used TikTok. Yet, after the ban, the economy, the country, and its people has not fallen into shambles, a consequence some people believe for America and its citizens. For Indians who truly needed TikTok in their lives, they still had something similar on multiple different platforms thanks to Meta launching Instagram Reels and Google doing the same with Youtube Shorts. Some were able to amass the same or greater following as on TikTok, while others were unable to rise to the fame they once had and were forced to give up. While some may view this as a reason to not ban TikTok, one must realize that this happens to people all the time; businesses go bankrupt and people are left to find the next best thing. If Culver’s were to go out of business and the only skills a person had was in the fast-food field, they could apply to one of the many other fast-food chains that exist. And, if they are unable to be hired anywhere, they simply have to learn a new skill-set and get another job. Nothing lasts forever, and this ban simply brings light to the instability that comes with having a career based off an app that does not provide a stable base to grow a long-term career on, and the importance of not betting one’s life on something that is so susceptible to be eradicated.
Yet, despite all this, there is one argument that prevails among many regarding the data collection that is the basis for the ban. People state that it’s not a big deal if TikTok has their data because there’s not much to know about them anyways. I used to believe the same when I was on TikTok because I believed that, as an average person, I held little relevance to the Chinese government. While that may be true if I truly was the only American on TikTok, half the U.S. population is on TikTok, and numbers matter. One normal, irrelevant American citizen using the app gives China little power, but 170 million Americans gives China the power to manipulate and undermine an entire country through rigging elections and brainwashing content.
If one looks at what content is pushed at American youth vs. Chinese youth on TikTok, the findings are more than enough to prove that China knows exactly the power it holds. Americans are shown hyper-sexualized content, political extremes, and harmful trends, such as Devious Licks, Kia Boys (which originated in Milwaukee), NyQuil Chicken, and more. However, thanks to Chinese culture’s high value placed on education and even having the toughest college-entrance exam in the world, Chinese youth on Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) are being promoted videos on science, art, and patriotism. Not only this, but in 2021 the app also implemented a “teenage mode” due to a Chinese “Minor Protection Law” that limits those under 14 to 40 minutes a day for scrolling, and does not allow usage from 10pm to 6am in order to ensure an adequate amount of sleep. American youth deserve to grow up as educated and well-rounded individuals. They do not deserve to be easily manipulated, simpleminded, and screen-addicted like they are being made out to be in real time.
Banning is for the better
In an article from March of last year, it was reported that China’s commerce ministry opposed a sale of TikTok. If this is still the case, it is likely that the app will be banned off of Apple and Google app stores. And, while it is national security threats that are at the forefront of this ban, I believe that there are numerous other benefits that will come about if ByteDance is unable/refuses to sell TikTok.
In a perfect world, TikTok would be a wonderful app that encourages people to share and connect in a healthy way, clearly divides the boundaries between online and offline, does not hurt the mental health of users, and does not consume tons of valuable time. However, our world is not like this. People are lonelier than ever despite being more connected than ever, the amount of people having (or claiming to have) various mental disorders has skyrocketed, comparing oneself to others is extremely easy with the copious amount of people that can be encountered in a short amount of time, parasocial relationships are replacing real relationships, attention spans are getting shorter and shorter thanks to infinite scrolling and short-form content, phone addictions are becoming more prominent, and precious time that could be spent bettering oneself, getting to know people, or spending time with loved ones is offered as a sacrifice to doom scroll one's life away.
I used TikTok every single day from mid-spring of 2020 to late-summer of 2022, and some days I could be on it for 12+ hours doing nothing with my life. The only reason I got rid of it was because I changed my Apple ID and had to delete the app in order to update it. This resulted in the loss of all my saved videos and drafts, which was the main reason I kept the app around. Since then, I have thankfully never redownloaded the app; however, at first, I was saddened because I thought I was going to miss out on important things and news (a term coined as FOMO, fear of missing out), I believed my mental health was going to get worse now that my release was gone, and I simply did not know what to do with all my time. However, I have found that getting off social media has allowed me to spend more time doing what I love and being with those I love. Whatever I’m missing out on online is trivial compared to the fulfillment I receive from the way I currently live. Humans were not made to sit and mindlessly stare at the same spot for hours upon hours moving only our eyes and thumbs, and give up our lives to a block that cannot reciprocate or bring back all the time and love we offer it. We can and should do what brings us a sense of achievement and happiness for our present and future.
While it is fair to say that any social media app can cause issues, getting rid of TikTok is a good first step in achieving a healthy balance. Social media can be a fun way to create and connect with others if it is properly regulated, but it’s difficult with apps like TikTok that make users feel like they are constantly missing out on something.
What would you truly lose if TikTok was banned for good?
Sources
China’s version of TikTok, Douyin, limits usage to 40 minutes per day for users under 14.
China is hurting our kids with TikTok.
More than half of Gen Zers think they ‘can easily make a career in influencing,’
Social Media and News Facts Sheet.
