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TikTok: Over the past few years, the video-sharing app has drawn a lot of attention, and a ban looks inevitable.
Security problems have plagued TikTok consistently from the former President Donald Trump’s administration.
However, the business has endured the Trump term.
Since then, it has gained popularity, becoming the most downloaded app in the US between 2020 and 2022.
If the ban were to go into effect, it would have an effect on numerous business owners who were successful on TikTok.
The future of TikTok
In 2020, there were over 100 million users of the video-sharing app.
Over the following years, TikTok’s influence on American culture, influencers’ lives, and business owners’ lives grew.
During that time, Republican governors had started to be cautious of the app.
They recently ruled that state employees are not allowed to install TikTok on devices that belong to the government.
While this was going on, an FCC panel with a Republican majority pressed Apple and Google to take more severe action against TikTok.
A bill to ban the app in the US was introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio and two other US lawmakers.
A thorough investigation into TikTok’s and other social media platforms’ effects on younger users is currently ongoing as the political witch-hunt continues.
On whether the content on TikTok is appropriate for teenage viewers, there are differences of opinions.
Since the TikTok algorithm could lead to the uploading of potentially harmful content, worries concerning it are also frequently voiced.
Criticism
Washington has criticized TikTok because of its parent company’s connections to China.
The concerns grew after a Buzzfeed News report this year revealed that some US user data had been accessed from China.
According to a worker cited in the article, China could see everything.
While this was going on, TikTok acknowledged that some Chinese employees had access to user data from the US.
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Negotiations
Negotiations between the video-sharing app and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) date back a few years.
They have been working to reach a compromise that would meet national security concerns while still enabling the app to run.
However, there have been reports of negotiation delays.
According to national security experts, TikTok’s popularity just makes it more challenging to ban the program.
The effectiveness of a ban on TikTok has been questioned by some of its critics.
A bill written by Senator Josh Hawley forbids TikTok from being used on US government devices.
He said last week that he would be okay with a deal between TikTok and the US government that safeguards user data.
“But if they don’t do that then I think we’re going to have to look at more stringent measures,” said Hawley.
The community
Even as lawmakers have stepped up their calls for stricter rules on the app, TikTok users have been developing a sense of community.
The video-sharing app has become a source of income for many people.
Through TikTok, the following were made possible:
- Culinary habits
- Fashion and beauty trends
- Reviving old music
- Popularizing new songs
Additionally, US politicians have promoted their campaigns for the midterm elections using TikTok.
The renowned news organization Associated Press, which has been around for 176 years, just joined the app in an effort to reach new audiences.
“So many people, myself included, are always on TikTok,” said user Kahlil Greene.
“That’s where we get our entertainment from, our news from, our musical taste from, our social inside jokes we make with friends come from memes that started on TikTok.”
Green has amassed more than 580,000 followers as a result of his documentation of social and cultural issues, as the “Gen Z historian.”
The Biden administration ultimately took notice of his popularity and invited him to a White House press briefing about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“So much of our culture and lives are driven by TikTok,” Greene added.
“Now that it’s not just something you can rip away easily.”
Popularity
TikTok is unquestionably one of the most popular social networking services in the US.
The company, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, is dedicated to moving user data to Oracle’s cloud platform.
Significant modifications are also being made to isolate US user data from that of other business sectors.
Weeks earlier, TikTok declared it will restructure its US-focused legal, policy, and content moderation teams in collaboration with a special internal committee led by US-based authorities.
In response to the bill, a TikTok spokesperson said:
“It’s troubling that rather than encouraging the Administration to conclude its national security review of TikTok, some members of Congress have decided to push for a politically-motivated ban that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States.”
“We will continue to brief members of Congress on the plans that have been developed under the oversight of our country’s top national security agencies – plans that we are well underway in implementing – to further secure our platform in the United States.”
In addition, the spokesperson highlighted TikTok’s popularity by saying:
“TikTok is loved by millions of Americans who use the platform to learn, grow their businesses, and connect with creative content that brings them joy.”
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Other notes
While other tech companies have been dismissing employees, TikTok has continued to hire staff, particularly American engineers.
Recent job listings suggest that the business may be attempting to build its own domestic warehouse network in an effort to overtake Amazon as the top online retailer.
TikTok’s enormous popularity poses issues for the federal government, according to Rick Sofield, a partner at Vinson & Elkins LLP who specializes in export restrictions, national security reviews, and economic penalties.
“I think their minds are made up that ByteDance owning is a national security concern,” said Sofield.
“The reason that we’ve been hung up is it’s too big to fail, and they’re trying to figure out a soft landing.”
“There’s a whole lot of things I think that would have to happen first, before there’s a ban.”
Reference:
TikTok might be too big to ban, no matter what lawmakers say
