Will the U.S. Ban TikTok?

When we think of TikTok, most of us undoubtedly think of a harmless app used by younger generations to entertain themselves, their friends, and their online followers. Hundreds of those short videos of dancing, singing, and pranks have gone viral.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a much more sinister side to the China-based platform than first meets the eye. There are mounting concerns over the idea that TikTok steals personal information, such as location data and email addresses. 

They then share it with ByteDance (the parent company of TikTok) and even potentially the Chinese government. This has spurred talk within the Trump administration about banning the app in the United States.

It has been only a couple of weeks since young content creators and teens who use the app as a pastime were shocked by the news that President Donald Trump is considering banning the app in the United States. The news comes amidst increased security concerns over what exactly TikTok does with the personal information shared by its millions of users. 

While it may seem strange for an app to be banned by an entire country, the US wouldn’t be the first to consider disabling the use of TikTok. The Indian Government already banned TikTok (and other Chinese owned applications) from being sold on their app stores because of similar security concerns. 

But Why Ban TikTok?

The biggest cause for concern, according to the Trump administration, is that U.S. users' personal information is being shared with the owner of TikTok, Byte Dance, and potentially with the Chinese Government. While TikTok has denied such allegations, the bottom line is that as long as the Chinese government has ways to pressure TikTok through its ownership, they will also have ways of “spying” on U.S.-based TikTok users. 

For the average teenager who uses the app as a form of entertainment, it may not seem like such a big deal. The real problem arises when we consider “high-risk” users or those with personal information that is important to protect. Earlier this month, Amazon and Wells Fargo were both reported to have told their employees to remove the app from their phones in an attempt to protect any sensitive company information that may be on their device. 

There is a great deal of concern on the part of the U.S. government that Chinese intelligence services could potentially use the app to keep an eye on specific users or gather information. And while this may seem over the top or irrational to many people, it’s not the first time that the US has felt threatened over the possibility of foreign interference through seemingly harmless apps or programs. It does seem that banning TikTok as a precautionary measure could become a reality in the not too distant future.

Is a TikTok ban likely to happen?

There’s a huge amount of upset and push-back surrounding the potential TikTok ban, particularly for Gen Z users. Some of these users actually make a living through social media and their online presence. The uptick in TikTok users during the coronavirus quarantines has been great for their business.

Apple and Google will likely be disgruntled at having to ban an app with tens of millions of U.S. users. It’s easy to see why there is mounting tension, but the fact still remains that a countrywide ban could certainly be a very real possibility. 

There has also been plenty of talk of a U.S. based company or venture capital firm buying TikTok in attempts to prevent it from being banned. However, whether or not ByteDance would consider selling TikTok, which is the only major social media app created by a Chinese company to blow up on a global scale, is another story. It seems somewhat unlikely that ByteDance will want to sell such a profitable app to U.S. based competitors. 

The bottom line here is that, while there isn’t any solid evidence to confirm that the app is actually a way for the Chinese Government to steal sensitive information from high profile TikTok users, the US government and the Trump administration are not going to take any risks regarding international security. Tensions between China and the U.S. have been increasing for some time now, so it doesn’t seem completely unrealistic that the internationally acclaimed social media platform could end up banned throughout the country.

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