The TikTok Ban: A Balancing Act Between Security and Freedom

The fate of TikTok is in the hands of the Supreme Court. The U.S. government primary concern revolves around “potential national security” risks stemming from TikTok’s Chinese ownership (ByteDance).

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While concerns about espionage and surveillance are valid, a complete ban may not be the most effective or practical solution. Circumventing such a ban would be relatively easy through VPNs, and implementing effective network-level blocks would require significant infrastructure changes costing billions of dollars. More importantly, the argument that TikTok uniquely facilitates the spread of misinformation or propaganda while other social networks don’t is questionable. Misinformation & manipulation plagues all social media platforms regardless of ownership.

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Thou I agree the hidden nature of TikTok’s algorithm may raise concerns, but we are all too aware that echo chambers and algorithmic manipulation exist across all the social media landscape. Furthermore, a blanket ban would have significant economic repercussions for businesses that rely on the platform and wouldn’t this raise serious First Amendment concerns?

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What US government action highlight is how technology is outpacing current laws and legislations. Instead of a drastic ban, the U.S. government should explore alternative, more nuanced solutions such as data localisation managed by a trusted third party, implement strict data access controls and allow third-party audits of the algorithms and push TikTok to proactively comply with U.S. cybersecurity and data protection regulations, such as the CLOUD Act or GDPR-style policies, to build trust with authorities. Yes I agree that some sort of action needs to be taken, but an outright ban feels like a heavy-handed approach – like we’re treating every problem as if it requires the same drastic solution, similar to only having a hammer and seeing everything as a nail.

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The Supreme Court’s decision on the 19^th of January will have far-reaching implications, setting a precedent for how governments regulate social media platforms in the digital age. I believe this is a critical juncture that demands careful consideration and a balanced approach that prioritises both national security and individual freedoms in the age of social media.