And then TikTok came along. As if Facebook and Instagram and Twitter weren’t enough, another social media platform came along – and completely took over! With more than a billion users, including 150 million Americans, TikTok’s popularity was/is unparalleled.
This app owed by Chinese company ByteDance, was called a “spy balloon in our phones” by a congressional oversight committee member working on legislation to allow the president of the United States the power to ban the app. [The balloon reference was to the Chinese spy balloon that hovered over the US recently.]
Since the Chinese government has control over tech companies and their data, it makes sense why U.S. officials are worried. It isn’t a stretch to think how China can use TikTok to gather user personal information and or promote its interests.
Australia, Canada, Belgium, Norway, and a handful of other countries have banned its use on all government devices. In the US too, more than half the states have banned the use of the app on government devices.
But is a total ban like the one India has instituted viable in the US?
Why ban TikTok?
Data privacy in general is a concern on all apps and especially more so on TikTok due to the possibility of misuse. TikTok poses serious national security concerns due to the collection and misuse of personal information.
The US has two major concerns: the threat of espionage and the possibility of influencing Americans through TikTok’s algorithm by censoring certain content or overtly promoting others.
For example, TikTok is accused of censoring videos Tibetan independence and the Tiananmen Square massacre, topics that are very sensitive to the Chinese government. It isn’t difficult to see how China could use TikTok to shape American attitudes about domestic and global issues — such as an American presidential campaign or Taiwan and Tibet.
ByteDance has close ties to China but they deny any sharing of data with the Chinese government, obviously!
But beyond data privacy and national security concerns, there are many other reasons to ban TikTok:
- TikTok is Addictive. Since the app’s algorithm is designed to keep users more engaged by showing them more and more of the content they like and also due to its endless stream of new content, people, especially young adults end up spending hours on end in the app and become addicted to it.
- TikTok is Dangerous. TikTok videos encourages teens to participate in dangerous social media challenges causing numerous deaths. For example, the “choking challenge” or the “pass-out challenge,” encouraged kids to asphyxiate to the point of temporary unconsciousness and this blackout challenge is said to have caused the deaths of 20 minors.
- TikTok has inappropriate content. A high school principal in New York tells SmartSocial Founder Josh Ochs that students are being bullied on TikTok. A study published recently showed that new users can within three to five minutes find content related to suicide and communities promoting eating disorders.
- TikTok creates mental health issues: So many videos on TikTok are of skinny girls with fit bodies showing off their diets and workout regiments. These videos make young impressionable girls struggling with weight loss issues to compare themselves to others and or adopt unhealthy mindsets and unrealistic standards for beauty, creating mental health issues in them. TikTok also has numerous videos of women sharing their own experiences with mental illnesses and eating disorders, which can be informative BUT also triggering to others.
TikTok videos perpetuate a toxic diet culture among teens and young adults. Many videos point out to us what we don’t have in our lives and making us want to be someone we’re not. This cycle of want and desire create anxiety and depression in young minds.
Bottomline?
On the grounds of national security alone, TikTok should be banned. But when we take into consideration the overall detriment to society, the decision to ban TikTok in the US should not be difficult at all.
