Could TikTok still face a ban in the US? The Trump administration had sought to bully the app into US ownership, or face a ban, Back in 2020, due to concerns over its potential links to the CCP, but since then TikTok has been able to avoid any major escalation in scrutiny, by working with US authorities on security and transparency measures, in hopes that it may be able to better integrate it with key decisions makers and officials.
Stay or Nay?
The prospect of a TikTok ban was raised this week, when TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas appeared before a US Senate Committee Hearing into the impacts of Social Media on democracy, with various questions leveled at Pappas over TikTok’s connections, and obligations, to the CCP.
Pappas refuted most concerns, and tactically avoided certain elements. But in the end, questions remain about TikTok’s processes, and how US user data could theoretically be fed through to the Chinese Government via the app. This also comes amid a broader crackdown on Chinese tech investment activity in the US. The move is largely focused on broader acquisition activity by Chinese tech companies, including efforts by China-based investors to acquire US semiconductor companies, which have ramped up in recent times.
The same could also relate to TikTok in regards to personal data. While this group will be looking at future investment, it seems likely that this could also signal a broader shift in focus within US assessment of all potential risks in this respect. For its part, TikTok says that it’s still working with US authorities to come up with a solution that ‘will satisfy all national security concerns’. This would include moving all US user data to Oracle data centers, which, in its view, should at least alleviate concerns about China-based employees accessing US user info.
Still, Pappas wasn’t all too clear on whether US user info could be shared beyond the platform. Pappas also avoided questions about CCP-aligned staffers working for parent company ByteDance. In the end, despite Pappas’ best efforts, it wasn’t a lot clearer where TikTok stands in regards to US user data safety, and what TikTok’s obligations maybe if the CCP were to ask for such. Which could still be a killer for the app. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) still conducting a security review on TikTok, and Meta using its small army of lobbyists in Washington to continue to seed doubt about its motivations and processes. It does seem that the threat of TikTok being banned in the US entirely is very much real, and looms as a legitimate possibility ongoing.
The Wrap
TikTok was already banned in India in 2020, due to ongoing border disputes with China. It then took that additional conflict and escalation in activity to make Indian authorities finally move to eliminate the potential threat that the app posed. The US is already in an oscillating trade battle with China, recently raising tensions with the CCP further by publicly supporting an independent Taiwan. The Biden Administration has taken a different approach to China than Trump did. So far, no matter how you look at it, TikTok looks to be caught in the middle and eventually banned. However, if a broader conflict can be avoided, TikTok might continue to ride the line.
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