The Big, Bold TikTok Ban
It has become a cliché to lament that the US government is no longer doing big, bold things. But banning TikTok, a social media platform used by nearly half of Americans, would certainly be seen as big and bold.
Although it was far from certain yesterday, this result was more likely. Supreme Court was adopted unanimously Congress passed a bill last year that would have forced ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to sell it. If ByteDance refuses, as Chinese officials have so far insisted, the app will no longer be available for downloads or updates in the US starting tomorrow.
A potential ban on a media platform as large as TikTok has little precedent. This will create inconvenience and costs for millions of Americans. Many will have to change their daily habits, and some will lose business opportunities.
However, allowing a Chinese company — and by extension, the Chinese government — to control a US communications platform and large amounts of Americans’ personal data also has major downsides. Congress and the Supreme Court decided the risks were great enough to justify the violation. is a sign Intensity of US-China rivalry for global impact.
Bilateral concerns
Both the boldness of the TikTok law and its bipartisan nature would not have seemed so unusual decades ago. US history is replete with ambitious projects whose rationale was at least in part to confront foreign adversaries, including the space program, the Interstate Highway System, post-Sputnik investment in scientific research, and industrial mobilization during World War II.
Forcing a sale or shutting down TikTok clearly doesn’t come close to the scale of these projects. Still, it’s very broad in its own way. That’s a big enough change that many Americans find it hard to believe the federal government would go through with it. And it is about to happen because a broad range of politicians have decided that the alternative is unacceptable.
During oral arguments at the Supreme Court last week, Republican-appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh spoke of the possibility that China could use TikTok’s vast data collection “to convert people, to blackmail people. He works for the FBI or CIA or the State Department. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Democratic appointee, was also vocally concerned about potential spying. “This is about data control,” said Justice Sonya Sotomayor, another Democratic appointee.
TikTok argues that the Chinese government is unlikely to force the company to hand over sensitive data such as users’ contacts. However, as the judges noted in their decision, this claim does not correspond to recent history. The decision highlighted that China “has made extensive and years-long efforts to collect structured data sets, particularly on US persons, to support its intelligence and counter-intelligence operations.”
The congressional vote also showed deep, bipartisan concern. The bill was voted 58 to 360 in the House of Representatives, and 78 to 78 in the Senate. In addition to data security, members of Congress were concerned that China would use TikTok to spread disinformation and propaganda. Independent research found the platform already does this, making it harder to find videos sympathetic to Taiwan, Tibet, Ukraine, and other causes the Chinese Communist Party is hostile to.
What’s next
The big question now is what the incoming Trump administration will do. When he was previously president, Donald Trump helped launch a crackdown on TikTok, calling it a national security risk. It has ever since changed his position for reasons that are unclear. The TikTok investor and Republican donor lobbied Trump shortly before he opposed the ban. He is also enjoying his popularity on the show.
The Biden administration said yesterday it would not impose the ban in a short window — 36 hours — after it takes effect and before Trump takes office. Trump is said to be subject to executive order delaying the ban while his administration tries to help negotiate a sale to a non-Chinese owner. The Chinese government, for its part, insists it will not allow ByteDance to sell TikTok. Beijing clearly values TikTok.
The range of outcomes over the next few weeks remains wide — including a shutdown, a sale or some version of the status quo, and an ongoing legal battle.
Go inside the decision: To understand the Supreme Court’s reasoning, I recommend Adam Liptak’s article.
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