From TikTok to Red Book: US's Chinese social media paradox

AT ITS CORE LIES A COMPLEX INTERACTION BETWEEN DIGITAL SOVEREIGNTY, GEOPOLITICAL POWER AND MEDIA INFLUENCE

- HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI: TikTok, commanding 170 million American users, faces its moment of truth this Sunday unless a deal materialises to sell it to a US investor or the Supreme Court intervenes. At its core lies a complex interaction between digital sovereignty, geopolitical power and media influence. The developments are both unprecedented—the first time the US has attempted to shut down access to an app with such a vast base—and laced with irony: the looming shutdown has prompted Americans to flock to another Chinese app, one that wears its communist identity more openly in its very name.

When President Biden signed the law in early 2024, it reflected a rare moment of bipartisan unity in Washington's fractured political landscape. The specific concerns were that TikTok's owner ByteDance could be compelled under Chinese law to hand over American users' data to Beijing authorities; the Chinese government could potentially influence or manipulate the content Americans see through TikTok's algorithms; and the platform could be used to spread misinformation or propaganda.

The legislation offered ByteDance a stark choice: sell its US operations to an American company or face a complete ban. US officials warned that the proprietary algorithm was vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who could use it to shape content on the platform in a way that's difficult to detect. The precedent wasn't without parallel—India banned TikTok in June 2020 amid heightened tensions with Beijing over border confrontations. Cybersecurity experts have found evidence on multiple occasions on how Chinese user applications can often serve as surveillance tools.

In Europe, Austrian advocacy group None of Your Business (Noyb) has just sued TikTok, Shein, Xiaomi and three other Chinese companies in a privacy complaint. Noyb, known for extracting billions in fines from tech giants like Apple, Alphabet and Meta, brings gravitas to these concerns.