In the last few weeks, Congress has been abuzz with a controversial piece of legislation: the banning of TikTok. The bill has received outstanding bipartisan support, with only 50 Democrats and 15 Republicans voting against it in the House of Representatives.
Supporters of the bill cite concerns that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance (a Chinese company), could be working with the CCP against American interests. Although there is no conclusive evidence that supports this theory, TikTok could be selling data to the Chinese government and manipulating users’ “For You Page” to display pro-Chinese content and influence American elections. TikTok has also received criticism for propagating hate content and conspiracy theories. It is also criticized for its algorithm failing to promote minority content creators.
However, these accusations have also been associated with other social media companies and countries. Several United States intelligence agencies concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Facebook received national backlash due to the prevalence of misinformation that supposedly influenced the 2020 election, for which Mark Zuckerberg was called before Congress to testify, much like TikTok CEO Shou Chew was.
The hearings of both CEOs displayed politicians’ lack of technological awareness. However, there were clear differences. Chew’s hearing, which was supposed to be focused on child safety, instead contained multiple questions about his relationship with the CCP and his citizenship ( lawmakers seemed to be skeptical of his Singaporean nationality).
That said, I believe I personally witnessed TikTok’s algorithm manipulation in the weeks that followed the hearing. My feed was flooded with edits of Chew’s hearing portraying him in a heroic light despite my clicking “Not Interested” on each post.
As for TikTok’s struggles with keeping its content equitable and hate-free, what platform doesn’t suffer from the same issues? Social media has a tendency to create echo chambers around its users, radicalizing them by showing only certain content.
Concerns over the privacy of users’ data are absolutely valid. However, these should be addressed through legislation that ensures the security of all social media users across all platforms. Other companies also collect and sell user data, TikTok has been targeted for its association with China.
All of this is to say that the solution lies in passing legislation that regulates social media, not banning TikTok, specifically.
For all of TikTok’s faults, it also showcases many benefits. Lesser-known artists, activists and politicians have used it to raise awareness about themselves and other issues.
Frankly, in my opinion, the argument that TikTok shouldn’t be banned because people my age (myself included) enjoy it isn’t particularly relevant. TikTok shouldn’t be banned because doing so would be an infringement upon free speech.
