For a while, it seemed that TikTok might dodge the techlash. After all, what could be problematic about a short-form video app featuring a bunch of teenagers and 20-somethings doing choreographed dances, roller skating, hanging out in influencer mansions and cutting into photorealistic cakes?
The answer turns out to be: Plenty.
In the past year, as it has become one of the most popular apps in the world, TikTok has accumulated many of the same problems that other large-scale social networks have. In addition to all the harmless Gen Z fun, there are TikTok conspiracy theories, TikTok misinformation and TikTok extremism. There are even activists using TikTok to influence our elections, including a network of teenagers and K-pop fans who claimed they used the app to sabotage President Trumps rally in Tulsa, Okla., last month by registering for tickets under false identities.
All of this might have been overlooked or forgiven, except for one fact. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, one of the largest tech companies in China.
TikToks Chinese ownership has become a subject of intense scrutiny by lawmakers, regulators and privacy activists in recent weeks. Mr. Trump is considering taking steps to ban the app in the United States. Companies including Wells Fargo, and government agencies including the Transportation Security Administration, have instructed their employees to delete TikTok from their work phones because of concerns that it could be used for surveillance or espionage.
In response to the mounting pressures, TikTok is wrapping itself in the American flag. The company has hired a small army of lobbyists in Washington, has brought in an American chief executive (the former Disney executive Kevin Mayer) and is reportedly exploring selling a majority stake in the company to American investors.
Jamie Favazza, a TikTok spokeswoman, said in a statement that in addition to the chief executive, the social network had an American as its chief information security officer and another as its head of safety.
Weve tripled the number of employees in the U.S. since the start of 2020, she said, with plans to hire 10,000 more people over the next three years in places like Texas, New York and Florida.
There are legitimate concerns about a Chinese-owned company capturing the attention and data of millions of Americans especially one like ByteDance, which has a history of bending the knee to the countrys ruling regime. Like all Chinese tech companies, ByteDance is required to abide by Chinese censorship laws, and it could be forced to give user data to the Chinese government under the countrys national security law. Lawmakers have also raised concerns that TikTok could be used to promote pro-China propaganda to young Americans, or censor politically sensitive content.
Ms. Favazza said TikTok stored American user data in Virginia and Singapore. She added that the companys content moderation efforts were led by U.S.-based teams and not influenced by any foreign government, and that TikTok had not and would not give data to the Chinese government.
There are also reasons to be skeptical of the motives of TikToks biggest critics. Many conservative politicians, including Mr. Trump, appear to care more about appearing tough on China than preventing potential harm to TikTok users. And Silicon Valley tech companies like Facebook, whose executives have warned of the dangers of a Chinese tech takeover, would surely like to see regulators kneecap one of their major competitors.
Ill be honest: I dont buy the argument that TikTok is an urgent threat to Americas national security. Or, to put it more precisely, I am not convinced that TikTok is inherently more threatening to Americans than any other Chinese-owned app that collects data from Americans. If TikTok is a threat, so are WeChat, Alibaba and League of Legends, the popular video game, whose maker, Riot Games, is owned by Chinas Tencent.
And since banning every Chinese-owned tech company from operating in America wouldnt be possible without erecting our own version of Chinas Great Firewall a drastic step that would raise concerns about censorship and authoritarian control we need to figure out a way for Chinese apps and American democracy to coexist.
Heres an idea: Instead of banning TikTok, or forcing ByteDance to sell it to Americans, why not make an example of it by turning it into the most transparent, privacy-protecting, ethically governed tech platform in existence?
As a foreign-owned app, TikTok is, in some ways, easier to regulate than an American tech platform would be. (One way of regulating it, a national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States of ByteDances 2017 acquisition of Musical.ly, TikToks predecessor app, is already reportedly underway.) And there is plenty more the U.S. government could do to ensure that TikTok plays a responsible role in our information ecosystem without getting rid of it altogether. It could require the company to open-source key parts of its software, including the machine-learning algorithms that determine which posts users are shown. It could pressure TikTok to submit to regular audits of its data-collection practices, and open up its internal content moderation guidelines for public comment. As Kevin Xu, the author of Interconnected, a blog about United States-China relations, points out, ByteDance could impose strict internal controls to prevent its Chinese employees from accessing any of TikToks systems, and open-source those controls so that outsiders could verify the separation.
Samm Sacks, a cyberpolicy fellow at the centrist think tank New America, told me that some of the solutions being proposed for TikTok such as selling itself to American investors wouldnt address the core problems. An American-owned TikTok could still legally sell data to third-party data brokers, for example, which could then feed it back to the Chinese authorities.
Instead, Ms. Sacks said, the American government should enact a strong federal privacy law that could protect TikTok users data without banning the app altogether.
Lets solve for the problems at hand, she said. If the concern is data security, the best way to secure the data is to put TikTok under the microscope, and put in place really robust and enforceable rules about how theyre using and retaining data.
Forcing TikTok to operate in a radically transparent way would go a long way toward assuaging Americans fears. And it could become a test case for a new model of tech regulation that could improve the accountability and responsibility of not just Chinese-owned tech companies but American ones, too.
At its core, a lot of the TikTok fear factor comes down to a lack of information. In March, TikTok announced that it would open transparency centers where independent auditors could examine its content moderation practices. The company has also begun releasing transparency reports, similar to those issued by Facebook and Twitter, outlining the various takedown requests it gets from governments around the world.
But we still dont know how TikToks algorithms are programmed, or why theyre showing which videos to which users. We dont know how its using the data its collecting, or how it makes and enforces its rules. We should know these things not just about TikTok, but about American social media apps, too.
After all, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat are playing a huge role in the lives of millions of Americans, and for years, they have operated with a degree of secrecy that few other companies of their importance have been allowed. What little we understand about these platforms inner workings is often learned years after the fact, gleaned from insider leaks or repentant former employees.
Some experts see TikToks current predicament as a chance to change that.
I think TikTok is a bit of a red herring, Alex Stamos, Facebooks former chief security officer and a professor at Stanford University, told me in an interview. Ultimately, Mr. Stamos said, the question of what to do about TikTok is secondary to the question of how multinational tech giants in general should be treated.
This is a chance to come up with a thoughtful model of how to regulate companies that operate in both the U.S. and China, no matter their ownership, he said.
The debate over TikToks fate, in other words, should really be a debate about how all of the big tech companies that entertain, inform and influence billions of people should operate, and what should be required of them, whether theyre based in China or Copenhagen or California.
If we can figure out how to handle TikTok an app with a genuinely creative culture, and millions of American young people who love it well have done a lot more than preserving a world-class time-waster. Well have figured out a model for getting big tech platforms under control, after years of letting them run amok.
See the original post here:
Dont Ban TikTok. Make an Example of It. - The New York Times
- S. Korea to launch $825mn fund to compete with Netflix, YouTube - Business Insider India - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Boomerangs and Frisbees: The effect of COVID-19 on HR trends - Thomsons Online Benefits - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Five key questions about Google and Apple's contact tracing system - The Telegraph - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- The Consequences Of Shifting To A Hybrid Work Model - ABCN's Officing Today - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Big Tech Zeros In on the Virus-Testing Market - The New York Times - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- From now on, we will divide history into before and after this pandemic - The Guardian - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Patagonia becomes latest company to pull ads from Facebook | TheHill - The Hill - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Andrew Yang wants people to get paid for data collected by tech giants - The Daily Dot - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- DoF faces uphill battle in taxing tech giants The Manila Times - The Manila Times - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Juneteenth across the tech world - POLITICO - Politico - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- TikTok joins the EUs Code of Practice on disinformation - TechCrunch - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- For Health Tech Startups, Data Is Their Lifeline Now More Than Ever - Crunchbase News - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Apples iOS 14 will give users the option to decline app ad tracking - TechCrunch - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- You want diversity, inclusion in tech? Embrace remote work - ZDNet - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Trump kept these tech giants apart now ones a buy and the other should be avoided - MarketWatch - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- US pulls out of talks to tax tech giants in a blow to Europe's plans - CNBC - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- European Union Seeks to Restrict Tech Giants From Grinding Smaller Competitors WIth Updated Tax and Content Ru - Tech Times - July 11th, 2020 [July 11th, 2020]
- Sequoia Capital Opens Its First Tech Incubation Center in Shanghai - Caixin Global - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Indian Govt Wants Tech Giants Google, Amazon And Facebook To Provide Source Code And Algorithms - IndianWeb2.com - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Invest NI's Bill Montgomery who helped bring top US tech giants to Northern Ireland steps down - Belfast Telegraph - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- The Future of Remote Work, According to Startups - Visual Capitalist - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- 10 big things: TikTok, on the clock - PitchBook News & Analysis - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Tiktok and finding the real digital imperialists - The New Indian Express - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- US slaps French goods with 25% added duties, but delays effective date - Financial World - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- U.S. targets $1.3-billion in French imports in retaliation for tax on tech giants - The Globe and Mail - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Kudos to TikTok, tech brethren; Starbucks & Luckin have us soured on coffee cos. - Compliance Week - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Silicon Valley giants have thousands of US military contracts - E&T Magazine - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Tech giants: From the basement to world domination - KnowTechie - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- This Week's Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through July 11) - Singularity Hub - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- US tech giants halt Hong Kong police help TechCrunch - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Infographic: How the Tech Giants Make Their Billions - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- facebook: US tech giants face hard choices under Hong Kong ... - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- FYI: You do all know that America's tech giants, even ... - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- TikTok ban: Facebook, tech companies benefit from US ... - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- U.S. Tech Giants Pause Responses To Hong Kong Requests ... - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- IBM Q2 earnings preview: can the tech giants cloud revenue keep growing? - IG Bank - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- Buying tech stocks is the most crowded trade in history. - The New York Times - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- Dow Jones Slumps as Johnson & Johnson Boosts Outlook, Apple and Cisco Stocks Head Lower - Motley Fool - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- IBM, Verizon team up for 5G effort aiming to accelerate business solutions - WRAL Tech Wire - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- BREAKING: American Tech Giants Google-Apple Remove Palestine From World Maps, Replace With Israel - India.com - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- VMware Invests With Other Tech Giants In Digital Assets Series C Round - Forbes - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- U.S. tariff threat isn't swaying France on taxing tech giants - Accounting Today - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- Trio of Tech Giants the Latest on Receiving End of BIPA Lawsuits - findBIOMETRICS - July 18th, 2020 [July 18th, 2020]
- G Suite's new unified interface poses an existential threat to Zoom and Slack - Business Insider - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- India's Jio creates 5G tech in-house, teams with Google on affordable smartphone - FierceWireless - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- The Twitter Hacks Have to Stop - The Atlantic - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Tech giants this country needs YOU! Do your moral duty and stop avoiding tax to help save our economy - The Sun - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Apple expands coding partnership with Black schools as tech firms grapple with lack of diversity - USA TODAY - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- How Huawei landed at the center of global tech tussle - Chicago Daily Herald - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Kamala Harris blamed for EVERYTHING as Internet mocks news report 'exposing' her ties to tech giants - MEAWW - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Wall Street delivered the 'kind of pullback I've been waiting for,' Jim Cramer says - CNBC - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- American tech giants Google-Apple remove Palestine from world maps, replace with Israel - Daily Times - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Chinese tech giants have tens of billions at stake in India - TechNode - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- The Streaming Wars Could Become a Battle of Tech Giants. Heres Why. - Barron's - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Advertising giants agree to evaluate mutual definition of hate speech - Axios - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- MPs say tech giants have 'failed to tackle' Covid-19 infodemic and Government must regulate them now - Press Gazette - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- US Tech Giants trying to survive the Chinese Market - Market Capitalize - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- China's aggression is undermining its tech giants' global ambitions - Nikkei Asian Review - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- With Just $130K In Funding, Indias Nimo Planet Is Looking To Challenge Tech Giants With Its Smart Glasses - Inc42 Media - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- Coronavirus scams (back) in the spotlight - POLITICO - Politico - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- The background to EU citizens' court win over US tech giants - The Guardian - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- Heres why BlackRocks bond chief says hes bullish on highflying tech stocks - MarketWatch - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- How buyouts by big tech stifle innovation - Livemint - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Apple digs in over its App Store fees - BBC News - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- How Spotify and TikTok Beat Their Copycats - Harvard Business Review - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- What does the pandemic mean for the smart city revolution? - TechHQ - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Cramer says moves in tech stocks are 'truly insane' as Amazon and Tesla climb - CNBC - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Google has a plan to lure shoppers away from Amazon - CNET - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Could the pandemic affect our perspective on smart cities? - Tech Wire Asia - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- 11 China-based Suppliers of US Tech Giants Sanctioned Over Alleged Human Rights Abuses vs the Uighur - Tech Times - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Apple, Google and Sony will be critical to MLB season shortened by coronavirus - CNBC - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Meet Gaia X Europe's answer to the power of U.S. and Chinese cloud giants - CNBC - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- 5G takes the Senate stage - Politico - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Typewise taps $1M to build an offline next word prediction engine - TechCrunch - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Stocks fall to session low, with Dow the dropping 250 points as tech falters - CNBC - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- These 5 tech giants could buy VMware if Dell chooses to sell the software giant, according to analysts: 'VMware would be a valuable property to any... - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- US Congress to question heads of tech giants on Wednesday - Yahoo News - July 25th, 2020 [July 25th, 2020]
- China's newest technology stock exchange is thriving despite the pandemic - The Economist - July 26th, 2020 [July 26th, 2020]
- Tech CEO hearing will probably be postponed, sources say - CNBC - July 26th, 2020 [July 26th, 2020]
- Zuckerberg, Bezos, other tech CEOs to testify on competition - WBIR.com - July 26th, 2020 [July 26th, 2020]