The issue surrounding TikTok’s potential ban has been a topic of significant debate for several years, primarily related to national security concerns and data privacy issues. A reason for the potential ban has been the topic of national security concern because TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. U.S. officials have raised concerns that the Chinese government could access American citizens’ data, which could potentially compromise the country’s privacy and security.
As the United States of America sees China as a strategic competitor, TikTok’s Chinese ownership places it at the center of this rivalry. In 2020, President Donald Trump signed executive orders seeking to ban TikTok unless ByteDance sold its U.S. operations to an American company, which faced legal challenges and was not implemented.
Recently, these legal actions were put to work once again. This case reached the Supreme Court, which upheld the federal law banning TikTok in the U.S. if it isn’t sold. Since TikTok provides a platform for marginalized groups, artists and creators to share their stories and reach a global audience, banning TikTok could set a precedent for government overreach in regulating social media platforms. Additionally, TikTok fosters cultural exchange by exposing users to diverse perspectives, trends and ideas by supporting thousands of jobs in the U.S., including small businesses relying on this platform for affordable advertising and marketing.
The respect for consumer choice was greatly deprived as others were deciding the fate of this platform as to how it would keep operating in different countries. TikTok does have issues with algorithm transparency, in that TikTok’s recommendation algorithm is highly influential in determining what content users see.
