TikTok, one of the most popular social media apps in the United States, is under severe scrutiny from the U.S. government and faces a potential ban — but how likely is it?

The debate over the app rose to a new level on Thursday when TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew made a rare public appearance as he testified in front of Congress, with legislators grilling him and accusing the app of being under the control of the Chinese government and fearing the social media platform could compromise Americans’ private data.

Security concerns from Democrats and Republicans

CNN reported Chew spent over five hours testifying and answering lawmakers’ questions. During his appearance, he repeatedly emphasized TikTok’s American ties, with the company headquartered in the United States and Singapore, and how the app is not even available in China, despite its parent company, ByteDance, being a major Chinese corporation. Chew’s assurances that the Chinese government doesn’t have access to TikTok user data and hasn’t requested this information left Republican and Democratic members of Congress stating they don’t believe this is true. “I don’t believe that TikTok — that you have said or done anything to convince us,” Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said. When Chew claimed the Chinese government had never requested TikTok user data, Eshoo said, “I find that, actually, preposterous.”

National security and child safety concerns

TikTok has come under increased scrutiny recently, with Republicans and Democrats expressing security concerns about the app. Earlier this year, the White House banned federal employees from using TikTok on government-issued devices. Reuters reported that similar bans exist in most U.S. states, Canada, Taiwan and the countries of the European Union.

In addition to the potential for violating national security and individual user data, a number of the members of Congress present at Chew’s hearing scrutinized him for the impact TikTok has on children. According to Reuters, two-thirds of all underage teenagers in the U.S. use TikTok, despite multiple concerns about its adverse effects on young people. 

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., warned that the app “exacerbated feelings of emotional stress” in young users, and Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, noted that children have been hurt or even died from following dangerous trends on the app, including one girl who died from suffocation while participating in the “blackout challenge.”

Politics and corporate interests

While skepticism of TikTok in the U.S. has been bipartisan, the Republican Party has been particularly hostile toward the platform, part of a more significant hardline approach against China, which has grown as an economic and political rival to the role of the United States as the world’s superpower. Some defenders of TikTok see the focus on this particular social media app as an example of Sinophobia (or anti-Chinese sentiment), similar to the hostility shown toward China related to COVID-19.

Critics of the current political landscape also point out that other social media apps, such as Facebook or Twitter, are similarly invasive when gathering personal data on users and sharing that data for commercial purposes. Singling out TikTok seems to reflect some bias or political agenda beyond an objective concern for Americans’ data and a corporate plan since American companies like Facebook would likely benefit from a ban against the competing company.

Chew himself said as much when asked if TikTok would be willing to become an American-owned company. “With a lot of respect, American social companies don’t have a good track record with data privacy and user security,” Chew said, adding, “I mean, look at Facebook and Cambridge Analytica,” referring to the revelation that Facebook had handed over user data for targeted and often misleading political advertisements, most notably during the 2016 presidential election.

The future of TikTok in the U.S. remains uncertain. Despite the hostility toward the platform coming from the government, TikTok is extremely popular, particularly among young people. While a total ban is possible, other options remain, such as forcing the company to be sold to an American owner.

Is a ban likely?

Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, spoke to Reuters about the likelihood of a ban.

“The First Amendment protects Americans’ right to access social media platforms of their choice,” he said. “To justify a TikTok ban, the government would have to demonstrate that privacy and security concerns can’t be addressed in narrower ways. The government hasn’t demonstrated this, and we doubt it could. Restricting access to a speech platform that is used by millions of Americans every day would set a dangerous precedent for regulating our digital public sphere more broadly.”

The next few months may be crucial to find out what the fate of the popular social media platform will ultimately be.

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