by Adam Schwartz and David Greene at Electronic Frontier Foundation
Freedom of speech and association include the right to choose one’s communication technologies. Politicians shouldn’t be able to tell you what to say, where to say it, or who to say it to.
So we are troubled by growing demands in the United States for restrictions on TikTok, a technology that many people have chosen to exchange information with others around the world. Before taking such a drastic step, the government must come forward with specific evidence showing, at the very least, a real problem and a narrowly tailored solution. So far, the government hasn’t done so.
Nearly all social media platforms and other online businesses collect a lot of personal data from their users. TikTok raises special concerns, given the surveillance and censorship practices of its home country, China. Still, the best solution to these problems is not to single-out one business or country for a ban. Rather, we must enact comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation. By reducing the massive stores of personal data collected by all businesses, TikTok included, we will reduce opportunities for all governments, China included, to buy or steal this data.
Many people choose TikTok
TikTok is a social media platform that hosts short videos. It is owned by ByteDance, a company headquartered in China. It has 100 million monthly users in the United States, and a billion worldwide. According to Pew, 67% of U.S. teenagers use Tiktok, and 10% of U.S. adults regularly get news there. Many users choose TikTok over its competitors because of its unique content recommendation system; to such users, social media platforms are not fungible.
TikTok videos address topics “as diverse as human thought.” Political satirists mock politicians. Political candidates connect with voters. Activists promote social justice. Many users create and enjoy entertainment like dance videos.