Right: TikTok's solution to American unease; American supervision of data gathering and storage in Project Texas.
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Arguments against banning TikTok from personal devices
1. TikTok claims its app is not being used for Chinese espionage and its 'For You' pages are not politically biasedTikTok has claimed that it has not and would not give user data over to the Chinese government. On March 23, 2022, TikTok's chief executive officer, Shou Zi Chew, told a United States Congressional hearing 'TikTok has never shared, or received a request to share, U.S. user data with the Chinese government. Nor would TikTok honor such a request if one were ever made.'
TikTok maintains it is a separate commercial entity that exists to serve a user base outside China. TikTok has stated that all its data storage is outside China and protected against unauthorised access. Prior to storing its users' data on Oracle cloud-based servers in 2022, TikTok stated that it 'has long stored US user data in our own data centers in the US and Singapore. Our Virginia data center includes physical and logical safety controls such as gated entry points, firewalls, and intrusion detection technologies.' Since 2020, TikTok claims it has invested $1.5 billion dollars to ensure sensitive user data is kept on United States soil, cannot be accessed from Beijing, and is subject to United States government audits.
On June 18, 2022, TikTok's U.S. Security Public Policy expert, Albert Calamug, issued a media release stating, 'Today, 100 percent of US user traffic is being routed to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. We still use our US and Singapore data centers for backup, but as we continue our work, we expect to delete US users' private data from our own data centers and fully pivot to Oracle cloud servers located in the US.' Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is a United States owned data storage service. In addition, TikTok is establishing a new department of United States security experts who will be solely responsible for managing United States user data. This department will have direct reporting ties to the United States government. Albert Calamug has stated that "[t]his is an important direction from a systems and data security standpoint, and part of our focus on ... building a security-first culture.' TikTok's chief executive officer, Shou Zi Chew, has stated,' The bottom line is this: [TikTok's] American data [is] stored on American soil, by an American company overseen by American personnel.' Several independent commentators have claimed that there is no evidence that TikTok has ever supplied United States users' data to the Chinese government. The journalist Chris Stokel-Walker, who has written a book about TikTok's rise, has stated, 'I've been trying for years to find any links to the Chinese state... I've spoken to scores of TikTok employees, past and present, in pursuit of such a connection. But I haven't discovered it. I can't say that link doesn't exist ... But none of us has found the smoking gun.'
Similar observations have been made in Australia where it has been noted that in 2020 investigations initiated by the then Coalition Government found no evidence to suggest that the security interests of the nation, or individual citizens, were being compromised by TikTok. With regard to accusations that TikTok curates users' feeds for political purposes, the company admits that it does shape its recommendations on each user's 'For You' page. However, TikTok claims this shaping is guided by user preferences and is not for any specific political purpose. TikTok states, 'When you open TikTok and land in your For You feed, you're presented with a stream of videos curated to your interests, making it easy to find content and creators you love. This feed is powered by a recommendation system that delivers content to each user that is likely to be of interest to that particular user. of the same standout videos, each person's feed is unique and tailored to that specific individual...
On TikTok, the For You feed reflects preferences unique to each user. The system recommends content by ranking videos based on a combination of factors - starting from interests you express as a new user and adjusting for things you indicate you're not interested in.'
Some of those who have researched the platform claim not to have found a platform-wide political bias. In an article published in The New York Times on June 28, 2020, Ioana Literat, an assistant professor of communication and media at Teachers College, Columbia University, stated, 'In terms of youth political expression, while there's a dynamic and influential liberal activist community on TikTok, there's actually plenty of conservative political expression, and pro-Trump voices definitely find an audience on the platform.'
Professor Literat further explained, 'On TikTok, you can find powerful political statements and activist organizing. You can find young people lip-syncing speeches by Trump or Obama (both earnestly and sarcastically) ... It's hard to refer to what we see on the platform as consensus. Rather, we find that TikTok enables collective political expression for youth - that is, it allows them to deliberately connect to a like-minded audience by using shared symbolic resources.'
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2. TikTok supplies entertainment and a creative outlet for its many users
TikTok's supporters claim it offers many benefits for its users which would be lost if the platform were banned from private devices. Among these are its highly entertaining and engaging content and its fostering of user-created content, thereby developing its users' skills and creativity.
TikTok states that its purpose is to entertain and engage its users and to allow them to create their own unique posts. AdNews has published an article by Brett Armstrong, the General Manager, Global Business solutions for TikTok, Australia. In the article, Armstrong states, 'Users can enjoy an endless stream of engaging content tailored to their interests on the personalised "For You Feed", while creators have a raft of in-app tools at their disposal to experiment with when crafting their videos, and brands have a new way to connect with their customers..'
James Rothwell, TikTok's head of marketing for Europe, has stated, 'When we think about the role we play in people's lives, we are first and foremost a destination where people come to be entertained.' Survey data shows that TikTok's users view the app in the same way. Survey results indicate that approximately 75 percent of TikTok users go to the app to be entertained. TikTok's actual user data in 2021 reveal the extent to which users access the platform for entertainment. According to TikTok statistics, 'entertainment' was the most popular content category on the platform worldwide. This hashtag amassed 535 billion hashtag views. The next most popular categories included dance, pranks, fitness/sports, and home renovations/DIY. TikTok's capacity to develop users' creativity has been noted repeatedly. On December 17, 2020, Medium published an article by Nir Hindl in which Hindl states, 'TikTok attracts such a wide variety of people because it gives creators the necessary tools to develop the content they want to put into the world...The large range of video editing software, filters, and text options let users develop their story in any way they want so that they need to find a way to be more compelling than the rest.'
Hindl further notes, 'Even the limitation of 60 seconds pushes creators to create better content. Users are becoming experts in using their imagination to tell jokes and stories in such a short time. TikTok creators are celebrating creativity...Most users weren't taught the rules of cinematography or have taken a course on storytelling. They are just experimenting as they go, learning the ropes and using their creative minds to produce creative content.'
TikTok has been praised as a valuable creative medium, especially for young people. On August 17, 2020, The Conversation, Dr Joanne Orland, Researcher at the Department of Digital Literacy and Digital Wellbeing, Western Sydney University, noted the extent to which TikTok acts as a creative outlet for its young users. She contrasts it favourably with other forms of social media which focus on passive consumption rather than creative construction. She states, 'Passive use of technology, such as scrolling and checking social media with no purpose, can lead to addictive types of screen behaviours for young people.'
Referring to TikTok, she notes, 'Whereas planning and creating content, such as making their own videos, is meaningful use of technology and curbs addictive technology behaviours. In other words, if young people are going to use technology, using it creatively, purposefully and with meaning is the type of use we want to encourage.'
Defenders of TikTok argue that it supports creativity everywhere to give a worldwide audience access to the lives and cultures of millions of other users they would never see without TikTok. On April 6, 2023, Riotact published a comment by writer, editor, and media producer, Zoya Patel, in which she stated, 'I don't want to be naive about the potential threat TikTok poses, but I also don't want the unintended consequence of limiting its use more broadly to be the loss of this vibrant and diverse media environment.'
3. TikTok is a valuable advertising platform for businesses
Supporters of TikTok stress its effectiveness as a means of promoting products and helping businesses both large and small attract customers. In an article published by the United States business magazine Forbes on December 9, 2022, Srikar Karra, noted, 'Since its launch, TikTok has over 1 billion active users across the globe. This huge number of people on the platform means that businesses have a lot of potential customers at their fingertips. Brands such as McDonald's, Starbucks and Pizza Hut have already capitalized on this by setting up accounts for their companies.'
TikTok has been praised as a valuable platform for the promotion of many products, offering enormous market access for large scale producers and retailers. A significant instance of this is BookTok, a subcommunity of TikTok, self-described as 'the biggest book club on the planet.' Enthusiastic readers connect with one another to share book reviews, reactions, and curated lists of recommended 'must reads'. This niche corner of TikTok, with the hashtag #booktok, has amassed over 112 billion views, becoming a powerful force within the publishing industry. It has been credited for helping authors sell over 20 million books in 2021.
Barnes & Noble, the United States largest remaining book chain, has partnered with TikTok to promote books and reading on the platform, and stores have table displays that cater to BookTok readers. This mutually beneficial arrangement has significantly boosted Barnes & Noble's sales. Small business owners also claim to be significantly advantaged by the carefully curated promotional reach of TikTok which allows them to access a vast potential market specifically interested in their products. The product delivery service, Sendle, has explained the appeal that TikTok has for small businesses. It states, 'TikTok's rise to popularity has also attracted the attention of freelancers, solopreneurs and small business owners who have flocked to the platform to take advantage of the massive user base, powerful algorithm, and easy video production tools. According to TikTok, 74 percent of users said that the app inspired them to find out more about a product or brand and 67 percent said that TikTok inspired them to shop even when they weren't planning to do so.'
Currently, a group of small businesses is lobbying the United States Congress to halt the RESTRICT Act legislation that would make it possible to ban TikTok in the United States. The group is presenting an economic argument that banning TikTok could bring financial hardship to Americans who rely on it to help generate income. The same argument is being put by TikTok spokesperson Jamal Brown, who has stated, 'TikTok creators are small business owners trying to make a living and put food on their tables, teachers educating the next generation of leaders, and everyday innovators who represent the breadth of America.' It has further been noted that TikTok is particularly effective as a means of music promotion. The Musicians Institute College of Contemporary Music has explained that TikTok supplies an enormous potential audience for unknown, starting-up musicians. In an article published on March 3, 2021, the College stated, 'Budding musicians depend on...[TikTok] to promote music and build a global fan base by simply uploading their original songs to the platform. Without a doubt, TikTok can make songs from relatively unknown artists go viral overnight.' It claims that the app now has the power to create and drive trends rather than merely reflect them. It states, 'In 2016, when the app launched, you could only come across viral videos or billboard hits. Today, popular TikTok songs influence the billboard charts, rather than the other way around.'
The article cites the case of Olivia Rodrigo's 'Driver's License' as an instance of a TikTok created sensation. It notes, 'Since posting the video, Rodrigo's account amassed more than 10 million followers, with only ten videos posted. "Driver's License" is still trending with more than 880,000 uses...the [TikTok] app helped steer Rodrigo's music to position one on streaming platforms like Amazon and Spotify.' Referring to the platform's threatened banning, the article concludes, 'While TikTok's fate in the USA is still hanging on a cliff, the app is undoubtedly the best video-sharing platform to promote music.' 4. Banning TikTok can be seen as an attack on freedom of expression and access to information
Many of those who oppose the imposition of a total ban on the use of the TikTok app see this as an unjustifiable restriction of citizens' rights to freedom of information and freedom of expression. This opposition is particularly strong in the United States where the First Amendment to the American Constitution 'prohibits any laws that... abridge the freedom of speech, infringe upon the freedom of the press...or prohibit citizens from petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.'
On March 23, 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a statement which declared 'Banning TikTok would violate the First Amendment. The government can't impose this type of total ban unless it's necessary to prevent extremely serious, immediate harm to national security. There's no public evidence of that type of harm, and a ban would not be the only option for addressing that harm if it did exist.'
Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at the ACLU. "Selective bans of entire platforms would cut off the flow of information, art, and communication that social media provides, interfering with communities and connections users in the United States have with each other and with people around the world. In fact, many Americans on TikTok are using TikTok at this very moment to organize political action against an unconstitutional ban. This kind of political speech on TikTok is at the very core of what the First Amendment protects.' It has been claimed that the very popularity of TikTok in the United States would make it difficult for state or federal governments to impose a total ban as the growing number of users would be likely to see such a ban as an infringement of their civil liberties. In August 2020 TikTok had about 100 million monthly active United States users, up nearly 800 percent from January 2018.
When TikTok chief executive officer, Shou Zi Chew, testified before the United States Congress in March 2023, he stated that there are now 150 million regular users of TikTok in America. Critics of the United States proposed ban on TikTok argue that because most of the TikTok users are young people, summarily shutting down a popular social media app will raise serious questions in the minds of this generation about the respect for freedom of speech in the United States system of governance. Young people are likely to see it as an unjustified attack on a medium of expression that they prefer. TikTok itself has claimed that a general ban on the company's app across the United States would be an infringement on the civil liberties of American citizens, restricting their rights to freedom information and freedom of expression. TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter has stated, 'Over 100 million Americans use and love TikTok. It would be unfortunate if the House Foreign Affairs Committee were to censor millions of Americans, and do so based not on actual intelligence, but on a basic misunderstanding of our corporate structure.'
Concerns have also been expressed in Australia that a general ban on TikTok would be an attack on freedom of information. The Pirate Party Australia is a political party based around the core tenets of freedom of information and culture and civil and digital liberties. On April 6, 2023, the Pirate Party Australia issued a media release in response to a ban on TikTok on all government devices in Australia on a federal and state level. The release states, 'While we understand the importance of national security, we must also protect citizens' rights to freedom of expression and access to information. An outright ban on TikTok could set a dangerous precedent for censoring other platforms in the future. We encourage open dialogue and cooperation between the Australian government, TikTok, and the international community to address the concerns raised.'
5. TikTok is claimed to be the victim of Western anxiety and prejudice against China and of unfair commercial rivalry
Both the Chinese government and general supporters of TikTok argue that the bans currently imposed or proposed on the app are the product of anti-Chinese sentiment. It is also claimed that government action against TikTok has been encouraged by the app's commercial competitors, particularly Meta which runs Facebook and Instagram.
The Chinese government has claimed that Western government bans on the use of TikTok by ministers and government employees are the product of political prejudice. The Chinese government has responded to Australia's ban on TikTok from government phones and devices by describing it as an 'abuse of state power'. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, has stated, 'We urge Australia to...provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies.' Similarly, TikTok Australia and New Zealand general manager, Lee Hunter, has argued that TikTok 'should not be treated differently to other social media platforms.' He added, 'Our millions of Australian users deserve a government which...treats all businesses fairly, regardless of country of origin.'
Claims of anti-Chinese prejudice have also been made by United States politicians and other spokespeople. In The United States, a small group of Democratic members of the House of Congress is fighting the proposed ban on TikTok in their country. The leader of the group is the Democratic representative for New York State, Jamaal Bowman. Bowman has stated, 'Let's not have a dishonest conversation. Let's not be racist towards China and express our xenophobia when it comes to TikTok.'
Bowman warned against 'fearmongering' by promoting anxiety about China. He added, 'Let's not facilitate another "Red Scare"', implying that popular apprehension about Chinese communism was being used to drive bans on TikTok. Bowman further argued that TikTok is being unfairly singled out as other social media platforms which had allowed the dissemination of dangerous views and disinformation were not being threatened with bans. Bowman highlighted Facebook's role as a vector for Russian disinformation during the 2016 presidential election, and as a platform for rioters to coordinate ahead of the January 6 assault on the Capitol. It has further been claimed that anti-Chinese prejudice is being fostered by TikTok's commercial rivals to bring about bans on the company. It was reported that in October 2019, Mark Zuckerberg, the executive chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling shareholder of Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) discussed his concerns about China with then President Trump, the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Facebook board member Peter Thiel.
Then, in March 2022, it was reported that Meta was paying one of the biggest Republican consulting firms in the United States, Targeted Victory, to organise a nationwide campaign to turn the public against TikTok. The campaign included placing opinion pieces and letters to the editor in major regional news outlets and promoting stories about alleged questionable TikTok trends that originated on Facebook.
It has been claimed that Meta is facing a serious commercial threat from platforms such as TikTok and is responding to discredit its business rival. It has been predicted that between 2020 and 2025, Facebook would have lost 1.5 million teenage users. In 2021, leaked internal documents from Facebook showed that teenage users in the United States alone had declined by 19 percent since 2019, with a projected drop of 45 percent over the following two years.
Facebook has been accused of using patriotic appeals and United States security concerns to target a commercial rival. For example, Facebook spokesman Andy Stone has stated, 'As Chinese companies and influence have been growing so has the risk of a global internet based on their values, as opposed to ours.' TikTok's chief executive officer, Keith Meyer, has accused Facebook of falsely maligning TikTok 'to unfairly quash competition...[and] put an end to our very presence in the US.' While a United States user and supporter of TikTok, Fiona Williams, has stated, 'By now, I think we've all come to the same conclusion that this whole TikTok ban has nothing to do with our safety and everything to do with Meta can't beat them.'