There's a big push to ban TikTok in Louisiana, in other U.S. states, at higher education institutions and at for-profit, nonprofit and not-for-profit organizations. There are valid reasons for this phenomenon, and calls for a ban are increasing.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew recently testified before a U.S. Congress committee. He tried, as diplomatically as he could, to convince Democrats and Republicans not to enact a bipartisan ban prohibiting his company from operating in this country. Maybe I missed the representatives changing their minds, but it sure looked like those who went into the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing with the goal of pushing a national Tik Tok ban had not moved from that stance.
Such bipartisan agreement is rare in Washington these days. In fact, quite a number of Democrats and Republicans want to see a national ban of TikTok — unless the company converts to a U.S. business entity and guarantees that China and the Chinese Communist Party cannot access user data, embed Communist or anti-America propaganda on the site or spy on Americans without users' knowledge.
Frankly, other than congressional staff, the hearing appeared to be full of elected officials who probably have never seen a TikTok video, people whose children and grandchildren likely spend hours each day on the very social media platform their elected elders detest.
I'm not making an argument in favor of TikTok. For a moment, though, think about the older people who predicted the Internet would never replace newspapers and books, or that it would make us dumber.
TikTok trails Facebook, YouTube and Instagram in terms of number of users, but it is growing rapidly. Internationally, some reports say TikTok has more than 2 billion users. Just a couple of years ago, the video-sharing app had 100 million users in the U.S. That number has since jumped up to 150 million. That's a lot of American eyeballs.
American politicians have used communism and the Chinese Communist Party as bogeymen to scare citizens for decades. In the wake of the spy balloon dust-up and other news in recent months, China is a convincing villain.
Could China be watching us on TikTok — or worse, scraping our data and personal information for some sinister use? Maybe you aren't old enough to remember that Google-affiliated cybersecurity company Mandiant discovered pro-China posts as well as messages on multiple social media platforms suggesting that voting wasn't important.
Consider this: President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agree that something has to be done about TikTok.
I'm watching with a great deal of curiosity and concern, because I really like the opportunities presented by social media. In various ways, they have replaced long-form letter writing, given voice to people who might not otherwise speak up in a group, and provided ways for strangers as well as long-lost friends and family members to connect.
I was an early Facebook user, back when you needed an ".edu" email address. Though I was much younger then, I was still an outlier because I was so "old" compared to most Facebook users in 2006. I'm even older now, but I still like keeping up with social media trends.
I'm not a typical TikTok user, but I'm on it. I may have posted something once — maybe — but I don't rely on it to get pro-Sutton messages or posts suggesting that the United States should have a civil war.
That's why I'm wondering how a proposed TikTok ban might work.
Few people in the U.S. Congress or in Biden's Cabinet are younger than 34. According to a recent Quinnipac University poll, many older Americans support a ban on TikTok, which most of them probably have never seen. Among those 18-34 years old, 63% oppose a ban.
Note that these are voting-age young adults.
The Tufts University-affiliated Circle Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement estimated that voters 18-29 years old had their voices heard when they cast ballots in 2022. The center reported that it was the second-highest youth voter turnout in about three decades.
I get the legitimate, China-specific security concerns. I want our elected leaders to watch warning signs and make us safe from aerial, cyber and social media attacks and influences.
Armed with the information that Louisiana and U.S. leaders have, what do young folks think about a potential ban, and what approaches do they suggest?
We need to hear from them. And not just via TikTok.
