By: Alexander Zhang
Washington, D.C- Concerned about national security and TikTok potentially leaking users’ data to the Chinese government, the United States government has passed a law, signed by President Joe Biden, that requires ByteDance, the Chinese-owned parent company of TikTok, to divest it, or to face a nationwide ban.
TikTok’s impact on other countries
TikTok’s troubles extend beyond the United States. For example, India banned TikTok in 2020, Afghanistan followed suit in 2022, and Canada banned TikTok last year. Additionally, TikTok has been banned by numerous universities and governments who have the power to restrict usage on certain networks. TikTok’s policies and its connections to the Chinese government have led many governments worldwide to approach the platform with caution and impose various restrictions.
Why is China to be blamed?
The Chinese government allegedly uses TikTok to target and influence Americans, through a wide variety of ways, such as IP address tracking, espionage, and impersonating people. This suspicion became more credible when employees from ByteDance accessed the IP addresses of two journalists, from Financial Times and Buzzfeed. Furthermore, according to Forbes, ByteDance also tracked multiple journalists from Forbes, gaining their IP addresses and personal information. Although TikTok does not exist in China, since it exists as a separate website called Douyin, under the same parent company, lawmakers are still suspicious about China’s involvement. President Biden’s law states that TikTok will be banned within a year, unless it is sold.
How will Americans be affected by the ban?
If ByteDance agrees with the law and sells the app, then the ban would not go into effect, and TikTok wouldn’t be removed from everyone’s phones. However, if ByteDance does not acknowledge the law, no one really knows what will actually happen to the app. It could just disappear from everyone’s phones, but it is going to be more likely that TikTok would no longer be available on Google and Apple’s app stores, meaning people cannot download the app anymore. However, this doesn’t mean people can’t use TikTok anymore; there are still methods to bypass the ban. It is not guaranteed that TikTok will be banned.