A big, fat TikTok ban

On By Littum

It has become a cliché to lament that the American government no longer does big, bold things. But banning TikTok — a social media platform that roughly half of Americans use — would certainly qualify as big and bold.

That outcome became more likely yesterday, although it is far from certain. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld a bill Congress passed last year that forced ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to sell it. If ByteDance refuses, as Chinese officials have so far insisted, the app will no longer be available for downloads or updates in the US as early as tomorrow.

The potential ban on a media platform as big as TikTok has little precedent. It would create inconvenience and cost to millions of Americans. Many would have to change their daily habits and some would lose business opportunities.

Yet allowing a Chinese company—and by extension the Chinese government—to control an American communications platform and vast amounts of Americans’ personal data also has major drawbacks. Congress and the Supreme Court have decided that the risks are great enough to justify the disruption. It is a sign of the intensity of the competition between the US and China for global influence.

Both the boldness of the TikTok law and its bipartisan nature would not have seemed so unusual decades ago. US history is full of ambitious projects whose rationale was at least in part to confront foreign adversaries, including the space program, the Interstate Highway System, the post-Sputnik investment in scientific research, and the industrial mobilization of World War II.

Forcing the sale of TikTok or shutting it down obviously doesn’t approach the scope of these projects. Yet it is far-reaching in its own way. It’s a big enough change that many Americans have had a hard time believing the federal government will go through with it. And it is on the verge of happening because a wide range of political decision-makers have decided that the alternative is unacceptable.

During oral arguments at the Supreme Court last week, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a Republican appointee, spoke of the possibility that China could use TikTok’s extensive data collection “to turn people, to extort people, people who a generation from now will be workers in the FBI or CIA or in the State Department.” Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Democratic appointee, also worried highly about potential espionage. Justice Sonya Sotomayor, another Democratic appointee, said, “It’s about data control.”

TikTok claims that the Chinese government is unlikely to force the company to hand over sensitive information, such as users’ contacts. But that claim doesn’t seem to be consistent with recent history, the justices noted in their decision. China “has engaged in extensive and years-long efforts to accumulate structured data sets, particularly on US persons, to support its intelligence and counterintelligence operations,” the ruling pointed out.

The vote in Congress also showed deep, bipartisan concern. The bill passed 360 to 58 in the House and 78 to 18 in the Senate. In addition to data security, members of Congress worried that China would use TikTok to spread misinformation and propaganda. Independent research has found that the platform already appears to be doing so, making it difficult to find videos sympathetic to Taiwan, Tibet, Ukraine and other causes hostile to the Chinese Communist Party.

The biggest question now is what the incoming Trump administration will do. When he was president before, Donald Trump helped start the crackdown on TikTok, calling it a national security risk. He has since changed his position for reasons that are still unclear. A TikTok investor and Republican donor apparently lobbied Trump shortly before he came out against a ban. He is also enjoying his popularity on the app.

The Biden administration said yesterday that it would not enforce the ban in the short window — 36 hours — after it takes effect and before Trump takes office. Trump is reportedly considering an executive order to delay the ban while his administration tries to help negotiate a sale to a non-Chinese owner. The Chinese government, for its part, insists it will not allow ByteDance to sell TikTok. Beijing apparently considers TikTok valuable.

The range of outcomes over the next few weeks remains wide — including a shutdown, a sale or some version of the status quo coupled with a continued legal battle.

Enter the decision: To understand the Supreme Court’s reasoning, I recommend Adam Liptak’s article.

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