TikTok, a popular social network for sharing short videos, has found itself at the center of a geopolitical standoff between the United States and China. According to a law passed by the US Congress in April 2024, ByteDance’s Chinese parent company must choose between “selling or banning” the platform in the US. This decision caused a number of controversies and discussions in both political and economic circles. Donald Trump the other day turned to to the US Supreme Court with a request to postpone the deadline by which the TikTok platform must make a fateful decision. The president-elect wants to be able to achieve a “political settlement of this issue” after his next term as president begins in January 2025. He is looking to preserve his options for further legal and political action, particularly on the popular social platform, which has come under pressure from the administration over possible national security threats.
The US is worried about the data leak through TikTok
The law passed in the US stipulates that ByteDance must either sell TikTok to an American or international company, or create an independent legal entity that will have no ties to China. This is due to the concern of the American authorities regarding national security. If the company does not comply with these requirements by the specified deadline, TikTok will be banned in the United States.
The main reason for restricting TikTok is the fear that ByteDance could be forced to cooperate with the Chinese authorities by providing access to the data of American users. The United States fears that the Chinese government may gain access to the personal information of millions of American users. The data may be used for espionage or to influence public opinion in the United States.
TikTok is also accused of being able to manipulate content. The platform can spread pro-regime messages or censor anti-government materials, influence electoral sentiments, and shape public opinion through recommendation algorithms.
There was also pressure from competitors. TikTok is a strong competitor to such giants as Meta (Facebook, Instagram) and Google (YouTube). The ban may strengthen the position of these companies in the market.
The position of ByteDance and TikTok
In turn, ByteDance said it has no intention of selling TikTok because it violates its economic freedoms. The company also emphasizes that the data of US users is stored on servers in the US and Singapore, which excludes its availability from China. The company has already implemented a number of measures to increase transparency, including the creation of a “Transparency Center” for independent monitoring.
TikTok warns that banning the platform could cause significant damage to small businesses that use the platform for marketing, including more than 5 million businesses, content creators who would lose more than $300 million in revenue, and the overall US economy, as TikTok generates more than $6 billion in advertising revenue.
Trump wants to save the platform
US President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, 2025, appealed to the Supreme Court to suspend the implementation of the law. He emphasized the need to solve this issue by political methods that would take into account the interests of all parties. In April 2024, the US Congress passed a law that set the final date for the TikTok split to be January 19, 2025. According to this law, unless ByteDance sells TikTok or reorganizes, the platform will be banned in the US. This date is symbolic, because it falls on the last day before the inauguration of the new president.
In his filing with the Supreme Court, Trump stressed that only he has the necessary negotiating skills, voter support and political will to find a solution to TikTok given the national security concerns. He also noted that he understands these problems well.
Not surprisingly, Trump changed his position on TikTok after winning the election. During the election campaign, he spoke out against banning the platform and promised to “save” it because he believed that TikTok had helped attract young voters to his side in the presidential election in November. This contrasts with his policies during his first term as president, when he initiated an executive order requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US assets within 90 days. That order was overturned by a court, and President Biden later rescinded it, although he signed a new law addressing the situation.
Although Trump has no direct influence on the Supreme Court, his position could affect the implementation of the law if it is passed. As president, he has the power to approve or reject proposals to sell TikTok. Meeting with TikTok CEO Zhou Shouji at Mar-a-Lago only emphasizes his intention to actively influence the resolution of this issue.
Potential consequences of banning TikTok
A US ban would deprive the platform of one of its biggest markets. This can significantly reduce its global competitiveness.
Millions of users will lose access to a popular platform that has become an essential tool for social communication, business and entertainment. Banning TikTok could increase tensions between the countries, which are already in a state of economic and political confrontation.
As of the end of 2024, TikTok continues to maintain a significant audience in the United States. In the US, the number of users of the platform exceeds 170 million people, which indicates its continuous growth and popularity. Globally, as of July 2024, TikTok has 1.5 billion monthly active users, a 16% increase from the previous year.
TikTok also continues to impress with the number of downloads: as of January 2024, the app has been downloaded more than 4.1 billion times worldwide. The numbers among young people are particularly significant: in the US, TikTok has 37.3 million Gen Z users, which is more than Instagram, which has 33.3 million of this age group.
In addition, TikTok users spend a large amount of time on the platform. The average user in the US spends 58.4 minutes on the app every day. In terms of finances, TikTok is showing impressive results: in 2023, the platform earned about $16.1 billion from advertising, a 67% increase compared to the previous year.
Statistics confirm TikTok’s significant impact on the social media market, especially among young audiences in the US. So it is logical that Trump will not be able to destroy the “chicken that lays the golden eggs” with his own hands.
Infographic: IA “FACT”
Claims and requirements for the platform in Europe
TikTok, which started as a small video sharing platform, quickly became a global leader among social networks. Its popularity is growing, but at the same time it raises concerns and a number of questions, especially because of its ties to China.
In Washington, the platform is accused of espionage, in the European Union it is suspected that TikTok is being used to influence the presidential elections in Romania in favor of the far-right candidate. Albania recently announced a one-year ban on TikTok, with Prime Minister Edi Rama calling the platform “local thugs”. Edi Rama announced that the government will shut down TikTok for a year starting in 2025. This decision was made less than a month after a fight broke out near one of the schools in Tirana, in which a 14-year-old student was killed and another was injured. The row that led to the violence was sparked by a conflict on TikTok.
At the same time, critics of this decision claim, that the incident was not directly related to TikTok and that the government is using it as an excuse to restrict the popular social network and limit freedom of speech.
So the situation with TikTok in the US is a reflection of the wider conflict between Western countries and China over technological dominance, national security and economic influence. The decision of the Supreme Court and the policy position of the new Trump administration will determine the future of TikTok in the US. If anything, it will set an important precedent for regulating tech giants on a global scale.
