"Data protection is important to us." The video app Tiktok and China have once again rejected the US accusation of data espionage. On Thursday, Shou Chew had made similar statements before the Energy and Commerce Committee of the House of Representatives. "We commit to this committee and all our users that we will keep Tiktok free from any manipulation by any government."
He also referred to billions of dollars in investments to protect the data of the 150 million US users. These would be stored in the country and shielded from external access. The app, known for its short dance videos, is extremely popular, especially among young people.
Tool of China
The US parliamentarians were not convinced by this. They see Tiktok as a tool of the Chinese Communist Party to spy on data of US users and endanger the mental health of adolescents. "Tiktok could be designed to minimize harm to children," said Kathy Castor, a committee member from the Democratic Party. "Instead, it was decided to make children dependent in the name of profit."
Analyst Dan Ives of the asset manager Wedbush assessed Chew's hearing as a "small disaster". "Tiktok is now the poster child for tensions between the US and China. The parliamentarians have many questions to which there are not enough concrete answers." Tiktok is only the tip of the iceberg, warned Frank Johnson, manager at the cybersecurity firm Lookout. "There are currently more than nine million apps identified in the Lookout database that communicate with IP addresses, domains or servers in China."
This increases the pressure in the US to ban Tiktok and other apps completely. Tiktok has already been banned from US government mobile phones. In Congress, the first draft laws are circulating after prohibition decrees of the then US President Donald Trump were overturned by courts in 2020. However, it will probably take many months before it is adopted and implemented. According to experts, the hurdles are high because such a law restricts freedom of expression.
For example, a ban on apps like Tiktok is only allowed if they pose a threat to national security. To come into force, a bill must find a majority in both chambers and be signed by the U.S. president. The Biden administration favors the Senate initiative, the "Restrict Act". Once it comes into force, the Department of Commerce would then have six months to launch investigations under the new law, which could then take another six months.
Courts have the last word
Tiktok is expected to try to overturn a ban with the help of a lawsuit, similar to 2020. "To justify a ban, the government would have to demonstrate that privacy and security concerns cannot be met in a less comprehensive way," says Jameel Jaffer, head of Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute, which is dedicated to protecting free speech. "The government has not proven this, and we doubt it could." Excluding the 150 million US users from the platform would set a dangerous precedent.
Similar to Trump a few years ago, the administration of US President Joe Biden is calling for a sale of Tiktok by the Chinese parent ByteDance to avert a ban. Both Chew and the Chinese government have repeatedly denied this.