Charli D’Amelio, 150.1 million followers; Khaby Lame, 155 million followers; BTS, 57.6 million followers; Selena Gomez, 51.4 million followers; The Rock, 67.9 million followers. (Numbers as of March 1, 2023) Shutterstock.com (background); mikimad/Getty Images (phones); via Tik Tok (celebrities)

Should TikTok Be Banned?

April 3, 2023

TikTok is one of the most popular social media sites in the U.S., with about 113 million users. The fact that it’s owned by a Chinese company has raised fears among lawmakers about privacy and national security risks. In China, private companies often have close ties to the authoritarian Communist government.

At least 30 states have in some way banned the use of TikTok on government-owned devices. In December, President Biden signed a law prohibiting federal employees from having the app on any government devices. But some people don’t think those limits go far enough. A U.S. congressman and a law school professor square off about whether the U.S. should ban the app altogether.

As long as TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that’s subject to the whims of the Chinese Communist Party (C.C.P.), the app should be banned in America.

Though the company keeps the algorithm that powers TikTok secret, mounting evidence suggests that the C.C.P. uses the app to spread authoritarian values. Because Americans use TikTok for news, the platform can secretly influence what issues Americans learn about, what information they consider accurate, and what conclusions they draw from world events.

ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, calls itself a private company, but companies in China aren’t really private: Chinese law requires them to comply with Chinese intelligence agencies’ demands. Members of China’s ruling Communist Party even sit on ByteDance’s board, and ByteDance has its own internal Communist Party committee, which helps guide the company’s direction.

Evidence suggests that China’s government uses TikTok to spread its authoritarian values.

TikTok can act as the C.C.P.’s censor here in the U.S. TikTok has secretly suppressed posts about Beijing’s genocide of Uighur Muslims, the status of Tibet, and the 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square. TikTok even suspended the account of a Muslim teenager after she criticized the C.C.P.’s genocide, reinstating her only after the ensuing public outcry. TikTok also suppresses get-out-the-vote videos.

The current directors of the F.B.I. and C.I.A. have called TikTok “concerning.” Congress recently banned its use by the executive branch. At least 30 state governments have banned TikTok from government devices. But it’s not just the American government sounding the alarm over TikTok. The C.C.P. has essentially banned TikTok domestically, allowing Chinese children to access only a sanitized version promoting science and learning.

Beneath the dance videos, TikTok is a dangerous, highly addictive tool for a hostile power to divide our society and undermine our system of self-governance.

—CONGRESSMAN MIKE GALLAGHER
Republican of Wisconsin

Banning TikTok entirely would do more harm than good. TikTok, like other social media companies, gathers a surprising amount of information about you. This includes what you are watching, how long you spend on TikTok, and approximately where you are in the world. You don’t even need to be logged in for TikTok to identify you again as the same person.

Technically speaking, this information about you could be accessed by TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, which could share it with the Chinese government. But there’s no credible evidence that ByteDance is regularly sharing information about Americans with the Chinese government.

On the other hand, banning a platform that’s used by tens of millions of Americans on the basis of speculation would set a terrible precedent for free speech. The mere prospect that data gathered by TikTok could be of use to a rival nation is far too thin a reason to deny all Americans such an important outlet for opinion, art, and many other forms of expression.

Banning TikTok entirely would harm free speech and be deeply irresponsible.

In fact, the Chinese government, which has one of the world’s most advanced intelligence sectors, doesn’t need TikTok to gather information about Americans. And TikTok itself has been working with the American government to create technical and legal safeguards to keep U.S. data away from China—an effort they call “Project Texas.”

The United States should have a comprehensive privacy law that regulates what data social media gathers about people, how that data is used, and with whom it’s shared. There should also be federal efforts to incentivize all social media companies to take greater care in addressing disinformation, hate speech, and other harmful online content.

But without solid evidence that TikTok is acting as an arm of the Chinese government, an outright blanket ban would be deeply irresponsible.

—RYAN CALO
Professor of Law, University of Washington