It’s a high-tension year awaiting TikTok in the United States. A law ratified by US President Joe Biden last week bans the popular video-sharing platform from public employees’ devices. It also attacks its use in the House of Representatives and Senate. And the increased weight in the Republican Congress, which holds the majority in the House of Representatives, risks further complicating the situation for the platform.
In fact, elected conservatives accuse TikTok, owned by Chinese giant ByteDance, of being a spying or propaganda tool in the service of Beijing. TikTok is the equivalent of “digital fentanyl,” said Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher, one of the leading anti-China voices in Congress, comparing the app to the drug that has caused many overdose deaths in the United States.
“It’s highly addictive and destructive, and we’re seeing disturbing data about the devastating effects of constant social media use, particularly on young American men and women,” he told NBC News. “We have to ask ourselves if we want the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to control what is poised to become the most powerful media group in the United States,” he added. A TikTok spokesman quoted in American media formally denied these allegations, assuring that the CCP has “no direct or indirect control over ByteDance or TikTok.”
rain of criticism
US federal law follows dozens of similar bans at the state or local level. To stand a chance of continuing to be legal on all American smartphones, TikTok USA may have to part ways with ByteDance. This was already the wish of former President Donald Trump, who ordered the sale of TikTok’s operations in the United States to American corporations Oracle and Walmart. His successor, Joe Biden, took a less drastic stance after taking office.
But ties with TikTok soured significantly last month when ByteDance admitted that employees abusively accessed user data to track journalists and identify the source of media leaks. A rain of criticism fell on TikTok, in the United States and abroad. French President Emmanuel Macron specifically accused the Chinese social network of censoring content and encouraging online addiction among young people.
try to agree
TikTok has been trying for months to find a long-term partnership with the US government through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Sources familiar with the matter revealed that TikTok and the Biden administration were close to reaching an agreement that would have established strict protections for US user data. However, negotiations have stalled, especially as FBI Director Christopher Wray said he continues to view TikTok as a threat to US national security.
Christopher Wray warned last month that Beijing has the ability to control the app’s algorithm, leaving American users vulnerable to a government “that doesn’t share our values and whose mission is totally at odds with the best interests of the United States.” . . For its part, TikTok categorically denies that the Chinese government exercises any such influence.