Kai Kaufman ‘21
October 2020
If you’ve been paying attention to the news for the past couple of months, you may have heard about a TikTok ban going into effect in the U.S. Though today, you can still access the popular video sharing app. So what’s going on right now? And more importantly, what does the future look like for TikTok? Let’s examine what we know.
What got us into this mess?
On August 6th, the Trump Administration issued executive orders that prohibited any transactions from being made with two Chinese companies: ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, and WeChat, the company behind the popular messaging app of the same name. (The contextual meaning of the term “transaction” was not defined in the executive orders. However, a reasonable conclusion is that downloading either one of the apps would constitute a transaction.)
The executive orders did not go into effect immediately, however: there was a 45 day countdown to the week of September 20th. Such a delay made way for several legal challenges, which complicated things even more.
Why were these executive orders made?
The use of Chinese-made apps by American users has been a subject of controversy and concern for quite some time, with fears of silent data harvesting by the apps. The current administration has made it clear that they do not trust China, and this mistrust has cleared the way for aggressive executive orders like the one lodged against TikTok. The specific reason for banning TikTok and WeChat was that they were seen as a national security threat. However, it’s unclear if these fears are justified.
Is TikTok stealing my data?
TikTok has received its fair share of scrutiny, perhaps more than is really productive. While it’s unlikely that user data is going directly to the Chinese government, what is known is that the TikTok app collects and reports various bits of user data. However, this is not out of the ordinary! Pretty much every social media app (and plenty of other apps) have some sort of data reporting system, more commonly known as analytics.
What do social media apps like TikTok track?
The answer really depends on the app in question. In some cases, the data being transmitted is anonymized data (data that isn’t linked to any particular user) that can be used for internal or external reports. For example, an app might transmit basic information about the device or operating system being used. In other cases, the data may be tied to a user. Even then, when U.S. made apps are doing the exact same thing, it doesn’t make sense to attack TikTok. While some people may bring up the fact that the TikTok apps employ some techniques to obfuscate their behavior and complicate analysis, this is also not specific to TikTok. Snapchat does the same thing.
If TikTok isn’t doing anything crazy, why is there so much backlash against it?
Without getting too political, we should consider the context. The president has long expressed his distaste for China and the Chinese government, so it is important to realize the role that political tensions between Beijing and Washington play in the executive orders. However, it is still perfectly reasonable to be wary of apps developed by companies that may be legally obligated to share information with their government. While TikTok and ByteDance maintain that they do not share user data with the Chinese government, there is no way to verify that.
What’s going on now?
For now, TikTok is safe. While there is an ongoing legal battle between TikTok’s U.S. operation and the U.S. government, there have also been talks of acquisition or investment by U.S. companies. Initially, Microsoft seemed to be in the position to take over TikTok. However, Oracle (the company that makes Photoshop and other software) and Walmart joined the fray soon after Microsoft got involved. Oracle ended up winning the fight, which came as a surprise to those who expected Microsoft to take over. However, Oracle did not buy TikTok; it only invested in it. Walmart is also getting a share, but not Microsoft. What’s more, the deal might not even go through due to objections from the U.S. government, China or both.
So What now?
It’s pretty much a waiting game at this point. TikTok’s “expiration date” has been extended repeatedly by way of court order. It’s a messy battle that will probably only get messier. For now, though, you can keep watching videos in peace. Let’s hope it stays that way.