Does the West truly face a threat from TikTok?

China has criticised a law that's making its way through Congress in the US, claiming it's unfair and might lead to TikTok being blocked there.

This is the most recent development in a protracted dispute stemming from concerns about the safety of the Chinese company-owned app.

It is strictly prohibited for officials, lawmakers, and security personnel in many Western nations to use it on their official phones.

Reasons why it could be a threat

TikTok is regularly accused by critics of collecting vast quantities of data. A cyber-security assessment by Australian cyber-company Internet 2.0 researchers, released in July 2022, is frequently used as supporting documentation.

After looking through the source code of the programme, researchers discovered that "excessive data harvesting" was being done. According to analysts, TikTok gathers information on where a user is, what device they are using, and what other apps they have installed.

However, according to the results of a related test conducted by Citizen Lab, "TikTok collects similar types of data to track user behaviour in comparison to other popular social media platforms."

The majority of us acknowledge that sharing vast amounts of personal information with social networks is part of the compromise, even though privacy experts find it annoying.

then collect information about us in return for providing us with their services at no cost, and then sell it to companies looking to promote on their platform or to other businesses looking to reach us with advertisements online.

TikTok's ownership by Beijing-based software behemoth ByteDance is the point of contention for detractors, since it sets it apart as a mainstream app from outside of the United States. While they are all US-based businesses, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube, for instance, all gather comparable volumes of data.

Legislators in the US and the majority of other countries have long held the belief that the information gathered by these platforms won't be utilised for improper purposes that might jeopardise national security.

According to an executive order signed by Donald Trump in 2020, China may be able to "track the locations of federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage" thanks to TikTok's data collecting.

Evidence thus far suggests that this is only a theoretical issue, but concerns are heightened by a hazy 2017 Chinese law.

Furthermore, The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Christopher Wray warned US senators in November 2022 that "the Chinese government could... control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations." The assertion has been made several times.

The fact that Douyin, the sister app of TikTok that is exclusively accessible in China, is extensively controlled and purportedly designed to promote healthy and instructive content to go viral for its youthful user base, only serves to fuel these worries further.

China has strict censorship on all social media platforms, with a swarm of cyber police removing anything that offends the authorities or incites political turmoil.

There were prominent instances of censorship on the app early on in TikTok's rise to popularity. For example, a US user's account was suspended for talking against Beijing's persecution of Muslims in Xinjiang. Following a strong outcry from the public, TikTok issued an apology and restored the account.

Other than the contentious moderation choices that all platforms must make, there haven't been many instances of censorship since then.

(Sources: bbc.co.uk)