In April 2024, the U.S. Congress passed a bill banning the popular social media app TikTok in The United States of America. Former President Joe Biden subsequently signed it into law, and after facing many challenges, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that the TikTok Ban would be upheld.
The decision to ban TikTok was met with major pushback from its millions of American users, confusing many as to why the U.S. government decided to prioritize banning an app full of dance videos and internet jokes. Even the American Civilian Liberties Union (ACLU) released multiple statements criticizing the ban.
It warrants the question: why is the U.S. banning TikTok? In short, it is because the app is owned by a Chinese company.
ByteDance, the owning company, is based out of Beijing, China. Many members of the American government, former President Biden included, fear that the Chinese company is giving American data to the Chinese government. While there is no explicit proof of ByteDance doing this, they say their concerns come from Chinese laws that allow the government to force companies to provide them with data for intelligence-gathering operations. For example, the Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China gives the government extensive access to data from companies operating within China in order to maintain national security. The U.S. government also fears that the Chinese government may use the app to influence discourse in America, only adding fuel to the fire.
Because of this, the Supreme Court upheld a law banning the app through the case of TikTok v. Garland on January 17. Notably, the law includes the condition that if TikTok were to be sold to a different company and cut all ties with ByteDance, the government would undo the ban and allow TikTok to stay in the U.S.
The U.S. government taking such extreme measures over what many consider a lighthearted social media app can be understood within the larger scale of American-Chinese relations. Tensions between the two countries can be traced back to 1949 when Mao Zedong established the People’s Republic of China as a communist nation. Since then, as China has grown in population, GDP, and international influence, the U.S. has viewed China as a geopolitical rival. The U.S. openly opposes China’s communist status with many fearing the threat this ideology may pose to the American people, democracy, and economy.
Furthermore, as American democracy has become strained over the years since Donald Trump entered the political arena in 2015, it is unsurprising that the government fears what China could do to harm both American democracy and the national spirit. Studies have shown that algorithms, such as TikTok, can lead to the promotion of radical political content. Many American government officials fear the Chinese government is or could adjust their algorithm to promote anti-American, pro-Chinese, or pro-communist values. U.S. Ambassador to China Nick Burns even said himself that he does “think it is a strategy. You know, China is a very significant global power. They want to overtake the United States in power. They want to diminish us.” In the wake of these contentious times, the last thing the American government appears to want is support for China’s values.
In this light, TikTok being banned in the U.S. can really be seen as simply an extension of its effort to maintain its status as the global hegemon and keep China, a big competitor, at bay.
In an ironic twist, many American TikTok users have begun protesting in a unique way: downloading Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote. RedNote is one of China’s most popular apps and is viewed by many as a Chinese version of Instagram. American and Chinese users are connecting and sharing stories about living in the two opposing nations. RedNote is also owned by a Chinese company, meaning that it has the potential to face a similar fate in the U.S. as TikTok if it were to continue to grow in popularity.
With this TikTok ban, U.S.-China relations have expanded to a digital arena. The future of U.S.-China relations remains in question. For now, all that is certain is that TikTok will be missed by millions of American users.
Update: This article was written before the TikTok ban occurred. The ban was short-lived, lasting about only 14 hours before the app began working for Americans again. Of note, the app restarted with a pop-up notification personally thanking President Donald Trump for an executive action delaying the ban for 75 days. Some users have reported pro-Trump, anti-leftist content spreading throughout the app and claim the app is now censoring leftist opinions. There is still much to be discussed and uncovered on the future of TikTok and U.S.-China digital relations.
Edited by Campbell Graham
This article is written by a Catalyst Staff Writer and does not necessarily reflect the political opinion of the platform. Catalyst is a student-led publication that encourages engagement with global issues from a learning perspective
