How the US Could Ban TikTok in 7 Not-So-Easy Steps
Former president Trump tried and failed to ban the app. Now US lawmakers from both parties are preparing legislation they say can finish the job.
TIKTOK’S GROWTH SPURT early in the pandemic alarmed not
only competing social networks but also the US
government. Could the video sharing app, owned by Beijing’s ByteDance, be
turning over the locations or personal interests of its nearly 100 million US
users to the Chinese government? Could the Chinese government order TikTok to
manipulate American minds spending hours flipping through clips? The app
quickly became a convenient target for US officials sparring for attention and
taking on China.
Three years later no
one has yet presented evidence of China exploiting TikTok to attack
the US, but lawmakers are planning to introduce legislation to Congress this
month that would open the way for President Biden to ban the app altogether.
Like a good TikTok stunt, US politicians could be staging
theatrics to appeal to their audience. But there is bipartisan interest in
moving against the company. TikTok is sending its low-profile CEO, Shou Zi
Chew, to testify to Congress on March 23 and attempting to appease US officials
by moving data and workers to the
United States. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Some observers expect
Washington to take action. “We will see limitations this year,” says Mira
Ricardel, a former White House deputy national security adviser now at the
Chertoff Group advising businesses on regulations. “There is a unanimity of
view that will lead to doing something.” Here is what that something may look like.
Study How India Trampled
TikTok
Government restrictions
on apps or online services are rare in the US. India’s approach could be
instructive for US lawmakers, because the country banned TikTok in June 2020 in
the world’s biggest crackdown on the service.
India’s government
ordered TikTok to withdraw from the country, required Google and Apple to
disable downloads of it from their app stores, and forced internet service
providers to block connections to the service. Iran, Jordan,
and Uzbekistan also have prevented access to TikTok, according to NetBlocks, an
organization tracking internet censorship.
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