Do Not Fall for the China-TikTok 'Strategic Ploy'
by Gordon G. Chang • January 2, 2023 at 5:00 am
The Biden administration should terminate the seemingly endless discussions and either require TikTok to stop operations in the U.S. or force its Chinese owner to sell the app lock, stock and barrel to American parties. No other solution is acceptable from national security and First Amendment points of view.
TikTok and its owner ByteDance have repeatedly made promises about the security of personal data of Americans, but they have violated all pledges.
"Everything is seen in China," a member of TikTok's Trust and Safety Department said in September of last year. A "Beijing-based engineer" known as "Master Admin" had "access to everything." — BuzzFeed, June 17, 2022.
ByteDance, a private Chinese company, is under a compulsion to commit espionage. Articles 7 and 14 of China's 2017 National Intelligence Law require every Chinese national and entity to spy if authorities make a demand. More important, in China's top-down system, every person must follow Communist Party directives.
China will almost certainly obtain U.S. user information one way or another: by taking advantage of technical loopholes in promised protections, by violating agreed protections outright, or by getting U.S.-based personnel to commit espionage
Beijing has over the years used TikTok in its various influence and propaganda campaigns, and the control of the algorithm that determines what users see would be especially important in political campaigns. In fact, the Democratic National Committee, realizing the potential of the app, joined TikTok in March. Even if the Republican National Committee joined, federal officials could conceivably help steer voters to one side or the other.
"The only acceptable deal requires ByteDance's complete divestment of TikTok," says Flint. "Unless there is full separation, the Communist Party will maintain influence over the platform. Unless there is full separation, the Communist Party controls the system."
TikTok, the extremely popular video-sharing app, is in the midst of another round of negotiations with the U.S. federal government over data security.
The Biden administration should terminate the seemingly endless discussions and either require TikTok to stop operations in the U.S. or force its Chinese owner to sell the app lock, stock and barrel to American parties. No other solution is acceptable from national security and First Amendment points of view.
President Joe Biden's failure to counter the known threat of the TikTok platform is a prime example of Washington's bipartisan inability to recognize the comprehensive nature of the Communist Party's assault on America. China wants to tap TikTok data for, among other purposes, blackmailing and intimidating Americans.
