Governments around the world have expressed concern that TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, could compromise user privacy. In recent months, lawmakers in the United States, Europe and Canada have stepped up efforts to restrict access to the platform. In response, TikTok has denied these allegations and is trying to distance itself from ByteDance.
Last week, the White House told federal agencies it was giving one month to remove TikTok from government devices. On Wednesday, a House of Representatives committee passed legislation allowing Joe Biden to ban the app on all devices in the United States. Thus, the 100 million Americans who use the site to post short videos will be forced to use alternative services.
According to New York Times analysts, the whole situation hinges on the growing influence of China. West fears that TikTok and its parent company ByteDance could hand sensitive user data, such as location information, into the hands of Beijing. In particular, laws are expressed that allow the Chinese government to secretly solicit data from companies and citizens for intelligence gathering operations. Of particular concern is the potential for content recommendations to be used for misinformation purposes.
For example, India banned the platform in mid-2020. It cost ByteDance one of its biggest deals as the government simultaneously cracked down on 59 Chinese-owned apps. Delhi said the services secretly transfer user data to servers outside India.
But all is not so easy for US lawmakers. A broader government-imposed ban that prevents Americans from using the app could run into legal issues, according to Caitlin Chin, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“In democratic governments, the government cannot simply prohibit free speech or expression without a very strong and specific reason to do so, and it’s just not clear if we still have that,” he said. Ms. Chin said.
The real reason is money.
Since the start of 2023, TikTok has earned $205 million more from in-app purchases than social networks banned in Russia combined. The IAP (in-app purchases) system was integrated into the application when work began five years ago. The principle of the system is simple: users pay coins which can be used to support their favorite bloggers. TikTok generated $1.5 billion in IAP revenue last year.
To give you an idea of the scale, Instagram’s* in-app purchase revenue reached nearly $1 million in February, and Twitter earned nearly $900,000 in the same month. Snapchat makes a lot more money, earning around $125,000 a day and growing. However, to everyone in TikTok, like China on foot.
“The example set by TikTok shows other social networks that payments and in-app purchases are a real and very important revenue opportunity. ‘ Europe. And most often by non-market methods: either they fight for the personal data of users, or it turns out that an application with short videos threatens national security… Apparently, the American IT giants are unable to beat TikTok in fair competition,” economist Evgeny Kogan comments on the situation.
The platform strikes back
TikTok called the bans “political theatre” and criticized lawmakers for trying to censor Americans.
“The quickest and most comprehensive way to resolve any national security concerns regarding TikTok is for CFIUS to accept the proposed agreement that we have worked with them for almost two years,” said the TikTok spokeswoman, Brooke Oberwetter, in a statement.
Separately, TikTok is trying to gain allies, recently making an unusual move in Washington. The company intends to meet with influential think tanks, community groups and lawmakers to advance the plan, which is being proposed to the government.
Additionally, critics of attempts to ban the platform note that all social networks engage in rampant data collection on their users.
“The general consensus in the privacy community is that TikTok collects a lot of data, but that’s not at odds with the amount of data that other apps collect,” said Robyn Kaplan, senior researcher at Data and Society Research Institute.
TikTok is somewhere in Russia
Recall that in early March 2022, TikTok suspended work in Russia. The Chinese social network estimated that, given the adoption of amendments to Russian legislation, with which the penalty for discrediting the army can reach 15 years in prison, continuing to work in the Russian Federation is dangerous.
“We have no choice but to suspend live streaming and new content uploads for our video service while we investigate the implications of this security law,” the company said.
Despite the official suspension of the social network in the Russian Federation, users actively distribute messages with instructions on how to use the platform.
