Trump is wrong about TikTok. It should be banned as a national security threat. | Opinion
It's a rare instance when I agree with the Biden administration instead of the president-elect, who asked the Supreme Court to delay enforcement of the law so he can pursue 'a political resolution.'
A former CIA officer you probably have never heard of was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison for spying for the Chinese government. Alexander Yuk Ching Ma had admitted to an undercover FBI agent that he sold U.S. secrets to China.
Persuading CIA operatives to betray their country isn't the only way that the Chinese government quietly mines information about our nation and its citizens.
ByteDance, a company affiliated with the Chinese government, operates TikTok, which collects data on 170 million eager American users.
Even worse, according to FBI Director Chris Wray's testimony before Congress, TikTok is a national security threat because the Chinese government can use the app to peddle propaganda and false information to American users. China might even be able to use TikTok to hack Americans' phones and other devices.
Last year, Congress passed, and President Joe Biden signed, legislation that bans TikTok in the United States if parent company ByteDance doesn't sell the popular app by Jan. 19. But the U.S. Supreme Court plans to hear arguments Friday on whether the ban is constitutional.
In light of the threat it poses, I'm surprised at the number of Americans, including President-elect Donald Trump, who support TikTok's continued use in the United States.
TikTok is a national security threat
Opponents of the law claim the federal government is interfering with Americans' First Amendment rights and punishing one social media giant to the benefit of others.
But the case against TikTok is strong, and the Supreme Court should allow the law ‒ which requires the app to divest from its China-based parent company or it will be banned from app stores and web hosting companies in the United States ‒ to be enforced.
The push to ban TikTok has bipartisan support, including from former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who served in Trump's first term.
John F. Plumb, the principal cyber adviser to the secretary of Defense, describes TikTok as a "potential threat vector" to the United States. In 2023, Plumb told a House Armed Services subcommittee that China, using TikTok, might be able to spread misinformation and collect data on a massive swath of Americans.
Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, also testified about the dangers of the app: "If you consider one-third of the adult population receives their news from this app, one-sixth of our children are saying they're constantly on this app, if you consider that there's 150 million people every single day that are obviously touching this app, this provides a foreign nation a platform for information operations, a platform for surveillance, and a concern we have with regards to who controls that data."
Congress thought TikTok was such a threat that the legislation to block it passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support − 352 votes for the ban and only 65 against it.
TikTok is brainwashing our nation's young people
Other popular social media apps like Facebook and Instagram have their own issues, including collecting users' digital footprints and allowing sexual predators to lurk on their platforms.
But there's strong evidence that TikTok shoves pro-China propaganda into the faces of young Americans who spend hours each day on the app. A study conducted by researchers with Rutgers University’s Network Contagion Research Institute found that concerns about China using TikTok to indoctrinate America's youth are rooted in reality.
Joel Finkelstein, the institute's cofounder and chief science officer, told The Free Press that the study establishes that “TikTok is actively manipulating perceptions of China and the Chinese Communist Party through algorithmic bias.”
China uses TikTok to reshape Americans' opinions of the Asian country, including casting its human rights record in a more positive manner. The app also downplays negative content about China, like the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and the horrendous treatment of Uyghurs.
Trump is wrong about TikTok
The Supreme Court is likely to weigh First Amendment protections against the national security risk. If the federal government's lawyers can show that TikTok is a true national security threat, they may persuade the conservative justices, who are stalwart First Amendment defenders, to their side.
I'd argue that the United States has a vested interest in ensuring that a foreign government, or a company partially owned by a foreign government, isn't allowed to spread propaganda to millions of Americans through their personal devices.
The Justice Department, arguing in defense of the ban, noted: “The First Amendment would not have required our Nation to tolerate Soviet ownership and control of American radio stations (or other channels of communication and critical infrastructure) during the Cold War, and it likewise does not require us to tolerate ownership and control of TikTok by a foreign adversary today.”
It's a rare instance where I agree with the Biden administration instead of Trump, who asked the court to delay enforcement of the law so the incoming president can pursue “a political resolution.”
Trump, on Truth Social, revealed the real reason why he doesn't want TikTok banned. He posted a graphic that shows his popularity on the platform.
Like X, TikTok ebbs and flows with accurate and false information, controversies and conspiracies. It's a cesspool. But Trump doesn't mind a cesspool as long as people love him in it.
Trump missed a good opportunity to put America first. Instead, he prioritized his own popularity. That isn't surprising, but it is disappointing.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with Paste BN. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.