I'm seeing a lot of misconceptions about the new law regarding TikTok in the US, which I believe to be a sensible one. For context, I work in tech and have a background in software and specifically data privacy laws.
TL;DR: TikTok is absolutely a threat to US national security, and the new law is a good one.
First, a few things to understand:
A) Software must follow the laws in the country the company is based in
B) Chinese law requires any organization to assist or cooperate with state intelligence work
C) TikTok, for legal purposes, must follow this law
D) 170 million Americans have TikTok installed
E) Controlling TikTok's content algorithm, data collection, and code would give the Chinese government a military advantage over the US (because of D)
F) Unless you believe the Chinese government is stupid, they are probably using B and C to do E (and lying to you about it, so you keep using TikTok)
Given all of that, let's clear up some misconceptions--
Misconception #1: This is censorship!
The US law does not ban TikTok. It also does not in any way censor the content people post online. It only requires that TikTok be legally owned in such a way that C is no longer true for TikTok to continue operating in the US. Grindr did something similar to be allowed to operate in the US after it was bought from a Chinese company. TikTok is refusing to do so (presumably because of F).
Misconception #2: This is racist against Chinese people!
This has nothing to do with Chinese *people* - this has to do with what the Chinese *government* can legally compel TikTok to do. (Please do not use TikTok as an excuse to be racist against Chinese people. That's not cool.)
Misconception #3: TikTok poses the same risk as American-owned social media sites!
Again, the difference is B, C and F above. The specific risks posed by E are inherently going to be speculative (we can't know what they're actually doing - espionage is intrinsically secret), but here are a few possible scenarios I can imagine of how the Chinese government could want to use TikTok in a way that threatens the US:
Mass manipulation:
China openly spends billions of dollars to use technology to manipulate popular opinion, both within China and in other countries. It is both in-character and well within the abilities of the Chinese government to compel TikTok to manipulate the content Americans see to shape mass opinion to benefit China. For example, China could use their control over people's attention on TikTok to shift public opinion to sway elections in their favor. While it's true that American-owned social media companies can also affect public opinion (like Russian-style social media election interference), the difference is that here the foreign government could directly control what American people see on the platform (due to F above) independent of any US regulation.
Data collection:
Collecting data in a way that is compliant with US privacy law is something other American-owned social media sites can do. However, Chinese companies are bound by Chinese law, not US law, meaning they absolutely can collect more information than other social media sites, and the Chinese government then can use that information in malicious ways (to spy on American citizens, to blackmail members of government or the press, etc.). I encourage you to think about not just what data is *legal* to collect in the US, but what is potentially *possible* to collect from a technological perspective if the code were controlled by a foreign military who does not care about US law. Which brings me to my last and most important point:
Hacking:
If we assume F - that the Chinese government has direct control over TikTok including TikTok's code - we have to assume that the Chinese military has the ability to use TikTok to push code to the devices of 170 million Americans. It is also extremely possible that this code exploits security vulnerabilities in Android and iOS, allowing much broader access than even what the Apple and Google APIs for iOS and Android permit installed apps to do. (China also famously does a lot of corporate espionage, so it wouldn't surprise me if they even planted some OS security vulnerabilities themselves via agents embedded in these companies.) If you assume that China has control over the devices of 170 million Americans, suddenly it is quite easy to imagine how this is a national security threat. Software, in the hands of someone intelligent and willfully malicious, can do pretty much anything. We are dependent on technology for nearly everything - our bank accounts, our jobs, communication, to learn about the world... Our phones go with us everywhere. Imagine if we got into conflict with China (e.g. through Trump's trade war, or maybe China invades Taiwan, etc.) and suddenly everyone's phones bricked. Or everyone's bank accounts suddenly had zero dollars in them. China could win a war with the US without firing a single shot, and the US public would cheer, because they also control the narrative (see the point about mass manipulation above). That should scare you.
Misconception #4: But TikTok pinky-promised that they don't do any of this!
Again, due to A, B, and C above, China could compel TikTok to simply lie about this. We are literally talking about digital cold-war style espionage. Foreign governments can just to lie to you. They do not care about US law. Have you ever watched a James Bond movie? Of course, when people are lying, it is hard to tell what's really going on. This is where reading between the lines becomes important. Unlike what happened with Grindr, ByteDance is adamant that they will not sell TikTok. If this were just about advertising dollars, there would be a price that they would not be able to refuse. (Think of Elon buying Twitter.) The refusal to sell in the face of an outright ban suggests something more is going on here than regular American-style data collection for advertising and profit. If you assume that TikTok's code contains Chinese military secrets, it becomes clear why selling would not be an option. Chinese military secrets are not going to be for sale at any price.
Misconception #5: I downloaded RedNote/Xiaohongshu! The US government will see how angry we are and stop trying to control us!
I promise you that the government already knows that taking away the #1 most popular app is going to piss off the electorate. Despite this, they have deemed TikTok to be such a threat to national security that it is worth taking away everyone's favorite toy during an election year. If you think our government will see the move to RedNote/Xiaohongshu as anything other than proof that China already has enough control over the US population to circumvent the new bipartisan TikTok law and manipulate Americans at scale to switch to another app under the full control of the Chinese government, you are not understanding the national security risk correctly. The Chinese military has a direct stake in RedNote/Xiaohongshu - I am begging you not to download it.
Look, if you are on TikTok, and you are sad about losing access to it, I understand. By all means, grieve this app that brought you joy. But please understand that this is actually about national security, and it is actually important.
