Lawmakers in the United States, Europe and Canada have stepped up efforts over the last year to restrict access to TikTok, the popular short-form video app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, citing security threats.
In February 2023, the White House told federal agencies they had 30 days to remove the app from government devices, and various cities banned government employees from downloading the app. The following month, members of Congress grilled TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chu for about five hours over his relationship with TikTok's parent company and China's potential influence on the platform.
In March 2024, the House Energy and Commerce Committee introduced a bill that would require TikTok to sever ties with its parent company within six months or face a ban in the United States. A vote in the House of Representatives could take place in the middle of this month. The bill was approved by the White House.
This is why pressure on TikTok is gradually increasing.
Why would the government ban TikTok?
It all comes down to China.
Lawmakers and regulators in Western countries are increasingly concerned that TikTok and its parent company ByteDance could be putting sensitive user data, such as location information, into the hands of the Chinese government. They point to laws that allow the Chinese government to secretly request data from Chinese companies and citizens for intelligence-gathering activities. They also worry that China could use TikTok's content recommendations for misinformation, a concern that has grown in the United States during the Israel-Hamas war. Critics claim TikTok has encouraged the spread of anti-Semitism and promoted pro-Palestinian content to U.S. users.
TikTok has long denied these allegations and sought to distance itself from ByteDance.
Have any countries banned TikTok?
India banned the platform in mid-2020, and ByteDance has lost one of its largest markets after the government cracked down on 59 Chinese-owned apps it said were secretly sending users' data to servers outside India. lost.
Other countries and government bodies have banned the app from official devices, including the United Kingdom and its parliament, the executive bodies of Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, and the New Zealand parliament.
What's going on with the US ban?
More than 20 states have banned TikTok on government-issued devices. Many universities block this from their campus Wi-Fi networks. However, students often simply switch to mobile data to use the app.
In May, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill banning TikTok from operating in the state, making it the first such ban in the nation. TikTok filed a lawsuit claiming the bill violates the First Amendment. In late November, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the ban, which was scheduled to go into effect on January 1. The judge said the ban likely violates the First Amendment and the clause that gives Congress the power to regulate commerce. foreign country.
New York City banned the use of TikTok on city-owned devices in August after cybersecurity officials determined the app “posed a security threat to the city's technology networks,” according to a City Hall spokesperson. was prohibited.
In December, a federal judge in Texas upheld a ban barring state employees from using TikTok, ruling that it was a “reasonable restriction” given Texas' concerns about data privacy.
The app has already been banned on U.S. government devices used by the military for four years.
What is Congress doing?
Some federal lawmakers want to ban the app, but more now want it sold to non-Chinese owners.
Previous efforts have focused on bans. In March 2023, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to approve a bill that would give the president the power to ban platforms, but those efforts died. (Courts previously blocked efforts by the Trump administration to do so.)
In January 2023, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a bill to ban TikTok for all Americans after pushing legislation to ban it on federally issued devices. The bill was passed in December as part of a spending package.
What is the Biden administration doing?
President Biden has said he supports legislation introduced in March 2024 aimed at forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok.
Since last year, the Biden administration has wanted TikTok's Chinese owners to sell the app or face a possible ban, the company said. TikTok has been in secret discussions for years with the administration's review board, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, to address government questions about TikTok and ByteDance's relationship with the Chinese government and its handling of user data. I have continued.
TikTok said in August 2022 that it submitted a 90-page proposal detailing how it plans to operate in the United States while addressing national security concerns.
The Justice Department is also investigating TikTok's surveillance of American journalists, according to three people familiar with the matter. In December 2022, ByteDance announced that its employees had inappropriately obtained the data of two U.S. TikTok users who were journalists and several of their associates.
Despite his administration's concerns, Biden debuted the app during the Super Bowl in January. The short, light-hearted video, which showed Mr. Biden dodging questions from an off-screen interrogator, underscored his attempt to rebuild support among younger voters.
Since then, his campaign has shared dozens of videos on the platform.
Can the government ban apps?
Most existing TikTok bans have been put in place by governments and universities with the power to lock the app off devices and networks.
Caitlin Chin, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the broad government-imposed ban banning Americans from using apps that allow them to share their opinions and art is legal under the First Amendment. He said it could face a challenge. After all, many Americans are now making videos on TikTok, including elected officials and major news organizations like the New York Times and Washington Post.
First Amendment experts say justifying the ban is a high hurdle for the government.
What if I already have TikTok on my phone when the ban is issued?
The exact mechanism for banning apps on privately owned phones is unclear. Montana's effort to ban TikTok called for fines on the company and its app stores if residents downloaded or used it.
If ByteDance does not sell TikTok, a House bill introduced in 2024 would prohibit app stores and web hosting services from distributing or updating TikTok in the United States.
Apple and other companies that operate app stores block downloads of apps that no longer work. Apps that post inappropriate or illegal content are also banned, said Justin Kapos, a professor at New York University's Tandon School of Engineering.
There is also the ability to delete apps installed on the user's phone. “Normally that doesn't happen,” he said.
What was the reaction on TikTok?
TikTok called the ban “political theater” and criticized lawmakers for trying to censor Americans. In March, a pop-up message urged users to call on their lawmakers to oppose banning TikTok. Some offices in the Capitol said they received dozens of calls.
“The most expeditious and thorough way to address national security concerns regarding TikTok is for CFIUS to adopt a proposed agreement that we have been working together on for nearly two years,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement last year. That's true.''
Separately, TikTok is waging an unusual lobbying campaign in Washington to win allies to advance the plans it has submitted to the government.
In March, TikTok took action again to protect its interests after Washington lawmakers introduced legislation that would require the company to sever ties with its Chinese parent company. As many users opened TikTok, the company welcomed them with messages opposing the bill, and several offices on Capitol Hill were flooded with calls.
