The recent decision of the Supreme Court to uphold the ban on TikTok in the United States creates an entirely new dimension of change in the balance of power and individual freedoms in the country. This is very disturbing as it replicates the very authoritarian behavior of China, which has been exercising full control over digital platforms and personal data.
The ban on TikTok—at one time supported by both Trump and Biden—is justified on grounds of national security, alleging that the Chinese government is using it to gain access to sensitive information on American users. However, this is vague and problematic for many reasons.
ByteDance is not directly owned by the Chinese government in the way most people believe. ByteDance is 60 percent owned by international investors, 20 percent by its Chinese co-founders, and 20 percent by its employees, including American employees. In this case, ByteDance would be considered an entity without any indication that the Chinese government owns it or even has an indirect or direct interest in either TikTok or ByteDance.
The government should have a limited influence on the people both individually and economically. This is a clear overreach by the government into the rights of the people to use the internet and social media of their choice freely. The US government—by forcing the sale or ban of TikTok—is essentially calling the shots on which companies can operate in its borders and how, just as the Chinese government does to its own digital platforms.
Perhaps one of the most important arguments against the ban on TikTok is that it will affect free speech. TikTok has become a vital place for expression and community building, especially among younger generations. The ban threatens to silence millions of users and creators who rely on the app for their livelihoods and personal expression. This is especially concerning in perspective with the vast censorship practices in China, where the government vastly controls and censors the content on platforms such as WeChat and TikTok internationally.
The ban of TikTok prescribes a very dangerous precedent for government intrusion into the digital space. If the government can ban a majorly popular app because it says it’s a threat to national security, then it could do the same for other platforms or technologies it deems as threats. Given that we know other social media platforms not only gather our data, but provide said data to government agencies freely, something is clearly amiss here. The result of this ban is the proverbial slippery slope: the more and more the government controls the internet and social media, the more stifled innovation and free expression will become.
None of these problems of data privacy and national security find a proper solution through governmental bans or mandates. Rather, government should be empowering the individual with the wherewithal to take care of his or her data and privacy. It would include fostering the use of available privacy-enhancing technologies, educating users about data security, and instilling a culture of healthy skepticism toward government overreach.
This ban on TikTok is part of a radical, authoritarian leap toward a quite different kind of regime for digital technology in the United States. Indeed, it literally follows how the People’s Republic of China has ruled since the creation of TikTok. Policymakers should not ban TikTok, they should instead focus on empowering the public to better protect their own data and privacy, keeping the internet free and open for everyone.
