Washington: In a significant legislative move, President Joe Biden enacted a bill on April 24th aimed at potentially prohibiting TikTok, the popular short-form video application owned by Chinese conglomerate ByteDance, should the company fail to divest itself from the platform within a year.
The House of Representatives passed legislation on April 20 that could ban TikTok in the U.S. unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells its stake within a year. With an estimated 170 million users nationwide, many of whom are young people, the potential impact is significant.
The prescribed timeline grants ByteDance a nine-month window from the aforementioned date to execute the separation, with a potential extension of three months subject to the President's satisfaction with the progress made.
Allegation on TikTok
The decision to enact such measures comes amidst mounting concerns from policymakers both in the United States and abroad regarding TikTok's alleged susceptibility to serving as a source for propaganda and posing security threats due to its ownership by a Chinese entity. This latest development follows a series of efforts initiated during the Trump administration to force the sale of TikTok.
Pre-ban restrictions
Preceding the formalization of the legislation, several prohibitions targeting TikTok were already in place across various echelons of governance in the United States, restricting access to the application on devices associated with educational institutions and governmental apparatuses at the local, state, and federal levels.
Is TikTok a security threat?
While diverging opinions persist regarding the extent of TikTok's potential ramifications on user privacy and national security, with some experts asserting that it has not exhibited any discernible threat beyond that posed by other major tech platforms such as Facebook or Google, policymakers have nonetheless pushed through measures aimed at the complete prohibition of TikTok should ByteDance fail to effectuate a separation from the platform.
"My thoughts are that the app should be banned in America," stated cybersecurity expert Steven McKeon, founder of MacguyverTech. "I believe that application was purposely sent from China to corrode American youth."
Critics, including McKeon, express concerns over various aspects of TikTok use among kids, such as exposure to inappropriate content, misinformation, dangerous challenges, cyberbullying, and its addictive nature. McKeon highlights data privacy as a significant risk, citing direct experience with a hacked client, where TikTok was allegedly copying data to China in real-time.
Describing the app's data sharing as "extremely dangerous" and "an ongoing security threat to our infrastructure," McKeon advocates for stronger measures to protect children online, enhance user privacy, and hold companies accountable for inappropriate content.
"It's more important than ever to stay safe on the web and take steps to protect all technology assets," emphasized McKeon.
Ramifications of the TikTok ban
With the social media app providing jobs for thousands of Americans, its ban could have a nationwide impact.
"This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States. The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country," a TikTok spokesperson said.
Roughly 5 million businesses have TikTok accounts, the company said last year. Many users have made their livelihood on the app, including some who make millions of dollars each year.
"For some small businesses and creators, the consequences will be catastrophic," says Matt Navarra, a social media industry analyst.
TikTok's policy response
Considering the US Congress’s move to ban TikTok as unconstitutional the company has decided to challenge it in court.