{"id":7587,"date":"2024-04-09T06:44:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T10:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/?p=7587"},"modified":"2024-04-05T14:44:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T18:44:27","slug":"tiktok-under-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/?p=7587","title":{"rendered":"TikTok Under Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hannah Tyler ’24
\nEE\u00a0<\/em>Staff Writer<\/p>\n

If you are a human living in America, there is a high percent chance that you have heard of the app, TikTok. TikTok, previously known as Musical.ly, is a social media platform containing millions of short videos and clips personalized to users around the world. With over 1 billion active users, TikTok has certainly made an impact and has hooked many people on watching funny skits, informational clips, and following inspiring influencers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, while TikTok may seem to be all fun and games, there is a potential dark side to it as well. The app is owned by a Chinese Internet company, ByteDance, which has gone under fire since 2020 for accusations of being affiliated with the Communist Party and the Chinese government, raising national security concerns. While ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government, they are legally obligated to establish an in-house Communist Party committee, which is composed of party members.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lawmakers argue that while there is no real evidence that Chinese authorities have accessed American information on the app, it continues to remain a real possibility. The Biden Administration told TikTok if the Chinese owners did not sell their stakes to a U.S. company, it would face being banned. Following this, TikTok presented an alternative called, \u201cProject Texas.\u201d The project involves TikTok user data being stored with software company Oracle in Austin, Texas, therefore resulting in the Chinese government being unable to access this data and act as a firewall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, during a recent congressional hearing with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and dozens of law makers, Chew was drilled for hours with questions regarding the safety and security of the app.\u00a0 In regards to if TikTok has the capabilities to spy or target people, Chew claims that he has, \u201cs<\/span>een no evidence that the Chinese government has access to that data. They have never asked us, we have not provided it.” Lawmakers found Chew as being \u201cevasive,\u201d and <\/span>remained unconvinced with the claims for Project Texas, with Democrat Frank Pallone stating, \u201cI still believe that the Beijing communist government will still control and have the ability to influence what you do.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As of March 13th, 2024, the House passed a bill by a vote of 352-65, which now goes to the Senate, aimed to get ByteDance to sell TikTok to non-Chinese owners within six months. <\/span>While this may seem like the end for the app, in order for the bill to be passed, it must reach the Senate and afterward would require President Biden to sign it into law. This process could take a while, which allows for some time before the app may legitimately face a ban. If ByteDance does manage to sell the company, the app will remain, however, if it does not, there is a chance it will be removed from app stores.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Considering the mass amount of influence that TikTok has gained over the years, the thought of its removal has caused a bit of an uproar. 73% of daily users oppose this nationwide ban, and feel that its removal infringes on their ability to speak out and be heard. Many rely on the app for communication and even their careers, demonstrating some of the positive values of the app. However, the app also offers many poorer outcomes. TikTok offers less than grand opportunities for misinformation spread, as well as the potential for cyberbullying and potentially poor influences for children and teens. With these two sides to consider, it leaves Americans torn on the decision of whether or not a removal would be justified.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, TikTok\u2019s potential ban has opened up a highly interesting debate regarding user security for Americans. The fate of the app remains unknown, yet over the course of upcoming months, we may begin to see what will ultimately become of the app so many know and love. TikTok better make use of their slogan, \u201cMake every second count,\u201d and figure out their decision on what to make of their company.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: Reuters<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hannah Tyler ’24 EE\u00a0Staff Writer If you are a human living in America, there is a high percent chance that you have heard of the app, TikTok. TikTok, previously known as Musical.ly,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":7589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7587"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7590,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7587\/revisions\/7590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}