On Mar 23, congress held a hearing with the CEO of Tik Tok, Shou Chew on the matter of privacy and the security of data that Tik Tok collects from its users and how it may be considered a threat to national security. 

During this hearing, mentions of the content on Tik Tok, and it being a danger to the minds and safety of its viewers were brought up as concerns.

The fear that has been causing the app to be banned from the devices of government officials is that ByteDance, Tik Toks parent company, is providing sensitive information of its users to the Chinese government. “The Chinese Communist government can compel companies based in Beijing like TikTok to share data with the communist government through existing Beijing law or coercion. National security experts are sounding the alarm warning that the Chinese communist government could require TikTok to compromise device security.” Said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. So much information is collected by Tik Tok that one’s whole identity can be found through the app. Many governments have the same concerns as the US, due to mixed relations with the Chinese government. The app has been banned in multiple countries such as India and Afghanistan. “We do not trust TikTok will ever embrace American values, values for freedom, human rights, and innovation.” 

Another grave concern is the spread of misinformation being spread on the app. A research conducted by NewsGuard showed that 20% of videos found by search results contained some form of misinformation. A Tik Tok spokesperson told CNN “we do not allow harmful misinformation, including medical misinformation, and we will remove it from the platform. The spread of misinformation about global politics concerns governments as it could influence the mind and perception of the younger generation. It is for these reasons that the Taliban has banned the app in Afghanistan. According to Taliban spokesman Inamullah Samangani, the ban needed to happen to “prevent the younger generation from being misled.” 

The app has also been banned on government devices from multiple countries such as the US, Canada, and the UK. While it seems Tik Tok may be done for government devices, the question that remains is whether it will be banned for the regular citizen. “Until there is evidence of large-scale wrongdoing, I don’t agree with banning it. Said Brett Boles, a content creator on Tik Tok with over 300,000 followers. Many Students do agree that China collecting data from Tik Tok is a concern, however they still believe that Tik Tok should not be banned.

For now, all we can do is wait and see what the future holds for Tik Tok.