What is happening?
TikTok is facing an effective ban in the US, with a new foreign aid bill that passed the Senate giving the company up to a year to sell its US assets.
The legislation, which has been signed by US president Joe Biden, gives the company nine months to agree a sale, and a further three to complete it if a sale has been agreed.
Why?
Why is TikTok being singled out over the other social media companies, many of whom also collect a similar amount of data, if not more? The key lies in the company’s ownership. TikTok is part-owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company with a controlling stake in the firm, with the bulk of the remainder owned by a mixture of investors that include US investment firms such as Carlyle Group, General Atlantic and Susquehanna International Group. Because of its Chinese ownership, it is subject to Chinese laws, prompting fears in some quarters that it would co-operate with the Chinese government if compelled to do so.
US authorities have been fairly vocal about their concerns over national security and the threat they feel that TikTok could pose to the private data of US citizens. There are also concerns that Chinese interests could potentially put pressure on Bytedance to manipulate the algorithms to boost or suppress certain content.
TikTok is also particularly influential with younger users, with a higher engagement rate than other platforms.
The app has also been barred from US government officials’ phones on security grounds, although it is not the only country to take this step.
Haven’t we been here before?
Yes, former US president Donald Trump signed an executive order that would have either forced a sale or seen it banned in the US. But president Biden rescinded the order when he took office.
How will the ban work?
TikTok won’t disappear overnight, nor it will suddenly vanish from the phones of the 170 million Americans who are already using it. However, app stores such as Google’s Play store and Apple’s App Store would probably no longer be able to offer TikTok to customers based in the US. That means no new users in the US – at least officially – and no updates for new features or security reasons, which will eventually become a problem for those who continue to use TikTok. It is also likely that TikTok would not be hosted on US servers.
How will they enforce it?
The usual route: through fines for app stores that break the law. But it might not be as easy to enforce as it once was. Those TikTok fans with a bit of tech savvy could use other means to get the app, through alternative app stores, using virtual private networks to mask their locations, or setting up accounts for locations outside the US.
But we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves here; TikTok has already indicated it plans to challenge the law through the courts. Previous efforts to ban TikTok in certain states, such as Montana, have failed to make it past the courts, with opponents arguing that it breached free speech rights.
Also, it is worth noting that TikTok isn’t the only way to get data on US citizens; there are plenty of commercial data brokers that can provide access to personal data for a fee.
Will it work?
First the ban has to be upheld in the courts, which isn’t guaranteed. And although the US business is thought to be particularly lucrative for the company, owner Bytedance has said it will not consider a sale. In other words: watch this space.
