Banning TikTok is a dispute between the US and China, researchers say

The law that prohibits the presence of TikTok in the United States, if the company that owns the social network, the Chinese ByteDance, does not sell the platform, reveals a fierce dispute for leadership in the technological and geopolitical race in which North Americans are losing supremacy global role that they have exercised for decades. The opinion is shared by technology researchers interviewed by Brazil Agency.

“TikTok managed to break the language barrier and is a success. Its algorithmic system can detect patterns of behavior and is enormously successful in modulating users’ attention. It is the most successful algorithmic system for attracting attention, it knows what interests each user, it uploads videos that arouse the curiosity and interest of these users, who remain on the platform”, explains professor Sergio Amadeu, sociologist and doctor in political science, specialist in digital networks.

The social network’s technology developed in China makes it a growing success in the US and other countries, including Brazil, while other social networks begin to lose users.

“There is no clear data, but the fact is that TikTok is growing, while other platforms, such as the former Twitter [X] are losing users”, points out Amadeu.

According to the law sanctioned this Wednesday (24) by US President Joe Biden, the ban will come into force in 270 days, unless ByteDance transfers control of TikTok to a non-Chinese company. If this does not happen, access to the social network will be blocked in the country, in addition to being unavailable to be downloaded or updated in application stores. This period may still be extended for up to one year from the entry into force of the measure.

The justification of the project’s supporters, and the government itself, is that China’s relationship with the company ByteDance could create a threat to the national security of the United States, due to the collection of data from the platform’s users. The Chinese are now promising a legal battle in the US Supreme Court to prevent the ban from being implemented. TikTok is one of the most popular social networks among Americans, with more than 170 million active users.

“I don’t think there is any indication that TikTok is more invasive than any other competing application, so much so that the solution offered [pelo governo dos EUA] does not involve a technological requirement for adequate security or data protection, but only the option to sell to a US company”, analyzes lawyer Paulo Rená, professor and doctoral candidate in Law, Innovation and Technology and member of the AqualtuneLab collective.

“This purchase would allow the US State to control the platform, due to national laws that require a subservient stance from companies to public authorities under various pretexts, such as combating terrorism”, he adds.

For Sergio Amadeu, the allegation that TikTok collects user data is true, as are all other social media platforms, the vast majority of which are controlled by US corporations, which do the same.

“The allegation that the data collected by TikTok would be used for massive surveillance by China is not necessarily true. The company itself alleges this. However, this is true on the part of the US. Just remember Edward Snowden’s revelations about the espionage of the NSA, the North American national security agency”, he highlights. In the NSA scandal, US espionage used servers from companies like Google, Facebook and Apple to hack devices.

“This decision of theirs [EUA] is cynical and, of course, prepares for a resurgence of relations between the United States and China.”

Consequences

A possible consequence, if the sale goes through, could be greater United States access to TikTok’s disruptive technology as a social media platform. “The sale is to generate profits for American capital. The USA is showing its face to the world, that is, usurping liberalism”, criticizes Sergio Amadeu.

For Paulo Rená, however, it is unlikely that the algorithmic system, which is the most relevant technological essence of TikTok, can be appropriate in a possible transfer of ownership. “China’s legislation prevents the transfer of algorithms to other countries. Therefore, there is a real possibility that TikTok’s distinctive technology will be ‘turned off’ when control is changed.”

Freedom and geopolitics

The threat of a ban on TikTok has unified different political sectors in the United States, in a country that gives broad legal treatment to the concept of freedom of expression, which should serve as the basis for the legal challenge that the platform will make in the North American courts. .

“The threatened ban would reduce, without reasonable justification, the options for people to express themselves online, remembering that today many people make TikTok their main business platform”, observes Paulo Rená. “I understand that the fundamental issue, in fact, is geopolitical, around a dispute between national interests, both economic and technological”, he adds.

Professor Sergio Amadeu believes that the US decision should encourage other Western countries to adopt similar measures, as was done against another Chinese technology giant, Huawei, which has been sanctioned by different governments over the past few years.

“They have the line of surrounding the Chinese, they want to delay China’s technological development and block China’s actions in the West, creating economic obstacles based on allegations of supposed espionage. This could serve as a warning to other countries, less subordinate to USA, to take an attitude of greater technological sovereignty. The fact is that the USA continues to have cutting-edge technological development, commands several technologies, but is losing the primacy of this process, especially to China”, argues Amadeu.