Advertisement
This is member-exclusive content
icon/ui/info filled
Opinion

Biden’s TikTok threat shows U.S. won’t be fooled

The White House wants to ban the app unless its Chinese owners sell their stakes.

The Biden administration’s ultimatum that TikTok be sold or else be banned in the U.S. has sparked plenty of speculation about the constitutionality of such a move and the potential alienation of Gen Z voters.

We see the threat as a good sign. Legal questions will be for the courts to decide, but this latest maneuver means the White House remains unconvinced by the app’s proposed plan to secure American data despite two years of negotiations.

U.S. officials are right to be suspicious. The TikTok deal simply cannot alleviate national security concerns as long as the app is owned by Chinese company ByteDance.

Advertisement

TikTok has been trying to sell the U.S. government on a security plan it has dubbed Project Texas because its partner, computer technology company Oracle, is based in Austin. TikTok says American data is now stored in servers in the U.S., and it has agreed to allow Oracle to review codes that determine how the app looks and how it searches content and provides recommendations.

Opinion

Get smart opinions on the topics North Texans care about.

Or with:

In TikTok’s eyes, it’s also offering a huge sweetener by proposing a U.S. security division that would be run by a proxy board separate from ByteDance.

But the app’s Chinese ownership is an objection that federal officials have not been able to overcome, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal. Chinese law requires companies to cooperate with government espionage by turning over data if called upon to do so.

Advertisement

“Our intelligence community has been very clear about China’s efforts and intention to mold the use of this technology using data in a worldview that is completely inconsistent with our own,” U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told the Journal.

And as we have said before, there are reasons to suspect TikTok’s assurances that American data cannot be accessed by its Chinese employees. Previous leaks have revealed that American employees had to consult their Chinese colleagues for help in understanding the flow of U.S. data. More recently, a whistleblower who used to work for TikTok told The Washington Post that the company’s plan to protect American data is deeply flawed.

The ex-employee showed the Post a snippet of programming code that he said showed that TikTok could connect with systems linked to Toutiao, a Chinese news app run by ByteDance. The whistleblower alleged that this connection allowed for secret interference in the flow of American data.

Advertisement

The employee said he was fired last year after raising concerns. TikTok denied the allegation about the code link to Toutiao and said it was a “technical relic,” according to the Post.

Members of Congress must press TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew for more detail when he testifies at a congressional hearing Thursday. Why should the U.S. believe TikTok’s assurances about the security of American users when evidence against the app’s trustworthiness is building?

Both Democrats and Republicans have voiced skepticism about TikTok, creating a welcome opportunity for bipartisanship action. Congress must explore regulatory options that can help our country better protect American data from exploitation, whether by foreign or domestic wrongdoers.

We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here.