Why would it be buffoonery to ban TikTok?
On Friday, Mar. 8, 2024, when asked about his stance on banning TikTok and whether he would be willing to sign the bill, President Joe Biden responded, “If they [the United States Congress] pass it, I’ll sign it.”
The stated grounds for the proposed ban on TikTok, security concerns over its Chinese parent company ByteDance's handling of user data, are indeed legitimate and substantive. It cannot be disputed that TikTok, used by 170 million Americans, has a sketchy record when it comes to data collection and management. For instance, in April 2023, the video-sharing platform was penalized with a $15.9 million fine by the UK's Information Commissioner's Office for misusing children's data. Despite all of that, however, the damaging ramifications of banning TikTok far outweigh any potential benefits.
According to the data site Statista's data from June 2023, nearly 42,000 U.S. TikTok influencers had accumulated between 50,000 and 100,000 followers, with approximately 35,500 having between 100,000 and 250,000 followers and less than 10,000 having over one million followers. Many of these influencers work full-time as creators and rely solely on TikTok for their source of income. Even worse, banning the platform would stifle the speech of those who use TikTok for activist causes.
When asked for a comment, SUNY Geneseo alumni Kelly Salpeter, who has a TikTok following of 1.3 million users, stated, “I have tirelessly created a space where people can come to escape the harsh realities of the world and enjoy a judgment-free, laugh-driven zone.” Kelly went on to add that it would be extremely discouraging to see all the hard work she has done disappear because of lawmakers.
“There are a lot of people that rely on this platform as a main source of income, and I could only imagine how unnerving this time is for them. As for myself, it is less about the money and more about the community I have created," said Kelly, who has been uploading content for five years.
In the event the TikTok ban bill, H.R. 7521 (Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act), is enacted, the country’s businesses and economy as a whole will also feel the pinch. Per Adobe, an American multinational computer software company, over 54 percent of business owners use TikTok for promotion, and one out of every four small business owners collaborates with influencers to bolster their sales and promotional activities.
Mark James, co-owner of Bear Creek Custom Timber located in Tampa Bay, told Spectrum News, “We have the three big ones—we have Facebook, we have Instagram, and we have TikTok. You’re talking about losing a third of our reach via TikTok. So, it wouldn’t be good.”
A small number of those inveighing against TikTok argue that these businesses and creators could switch to an alternative platform. Considering the time and effort it takes to build a strong presence on any platform, this suggestion is absurd. Though, even if the bill were to pass, all it would technically require would be for ByteDance to divest its ownership within six months for threat of a ban to be lifted.
Regarding the tenability of the second argument, New York Times' tech policy reporter David McCabe wrote in his article entitled, "Why a Sale of TikTok Would Not Be Easy," that the transfer of ownership would be more complicated than it seems when one factors in the potential cost, limited buyer options, legal challenges, and geopolitical tensions between the United States and China.
“If ByteDance is forced to sell the app,” McCabe writes, “it will be a major escalation in a digital cold war between the United States and China over who gets to control critical technology.”
Setting aside for a moment what the U.S. aims for, here’s the salient question: would ByteDance be willing to cede ownership? Considering TikTok's multi-billion-dollar annual revenue and its widespread user base in countries other than the United States, chances are quite slim.
As it stands, the House of Representatives has approved a bipartisan bill with 352 members backing it and 65 opposing it. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it will undergo further consideration before being sent to the President for veto or approval. While we await the final decision, the majority of the U.S. public will hope that sanity prevails and the government prioritizes more pressing problems like housing, gun violence, student debt, and Medicare.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons