Rebuilding Rob

Even if you haven’t used it, by now we’ve all heard of TikTok, the social media equivalent of crack cocaine in the 1980s. For as much as I’ve heard about (and yes, used) TikTok, I still didn’t know much about it; so I decided to do some research for this article. Here is a 2020 Shutterstock article that explains the TikTok app – in case you’ve never used it, or cannot even explain what it is to newcomers.

Per Wikipedia, TikTok started in India and China in 2016. By 2018, it was the most downloaded app in the United States. Yesterday, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill that could ultimately lead to TikTok being banned in the US. Of course, the threat of banning TikTok in the US is nothing new. In 2020, then-US president Donald Trump signed an executive order effective banning TikTok in the US. If I recall correctly, the app was not available in the Google or Apple app store for about 2 days. The ban was later dropped by Joe Biden.

In order to fully understand the controversy between TikTok and the Feds, you have to know a bit about the legal status if TikTok. I must admit, this subject is taking me on a bit of a deep dive. I literally have 10 tabs open on my web browser while I research and write this.

According to this Associated Press article, TikTok is a subsidiary of ByteDance, a privately-owned Chinese company. ByteDance is based out of Beijing but they are registered in the Cayman Islands (apparently this is not unusual for privately-owned Chinese companies). TikTok is headquartered in both Singapore and Los Angeles. TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, was born in Singapore and studied abroad, including Harvard.

Chew has said repeatedly that TikTok does not share user information with China, and that it would refuse to do so if asked by the government. But really, how does a Chinese-owned company refuse a demand from the Chinese government – or any government – and expect to stay in business. Washington ideally wants to ByteDance to divest TikTok and, via proxy, the Chinese government. Doing so, Washington believes, is the only way to protect American users’ personal information.

The issue at questions here is the potential for ByteDance to provide TikTok user information to the Chinese government. According to this New York Times article, lawmakers in the West are concerned because of laws that allow the Chinese government to SECRETLY demand data from Chinese companies and citizens. Of course, the only way a government can force a business’s hand is to prohibit them from doing business.

Personal information is a big business commodity today. However, it goes way beyond your banking or credit card information. Whether you’re making purchases from Amazon or using the discount card at your local grocery store, retailers are monitoring your buying history. I’m not saying this to be a tin-foil-hat-wearing conspiracy theorist; its just the way of the world now. In the case of TikTok, that is further complicated with their parent company being based in China.

On a personal note, I use TikTok. I watch more content on it than I actually post. No I do not to sync songs on it like I’m 12. And no don’t eat cinnamon, Tide Pods or set myself on fire (that one was my favorite TikTok challenge ). I think 90% of the stuff on the platform is stupid; which is why I appreciate the algorithm choosing content based on user interest. I always mean to use the platform to plug this blog; but I usually forget about it after Facebook, Instagram and Threads. If TikTok were banned, I would survive, of course. In fact, I would probably find some other social media platform upon which to kill time.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts:

• Rob’s Retro Movie Review: This is Spinal Tap (1984) – The Movie That Scaled to Eleven
• A Death in the Family (And My Disposable Income): My Life in Comics
• The Supporting Cast: Navigating the Eras of Male Friendship
• Life is What Happens: A Look Back at My Non-Existent 2025 Vision
• The Moment I Walked Inside a Hallmark Movie

The article “‘The Complicated Case of TikTok” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.