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A social media app once known for cat videos and dance challenges has become a political focal point among Washington lawmakers.
In March, the Biden administration ordered that TikTok, a platform with more than 150 million users in the United States, be removed from federally issued devices over concerns about how the app handles sensitive user data. Citing national security concerns, the government later demanded that TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, either sell the app or face a possible outright ban in the United States.
Last month, during a tense congressional hearing, politicians questioned TikTok’s CEO, Shou Chew, about the company’s ties to the Chinese government, its handling of its users’ data, and concerns about children and teens who use app. In the aftermath of the hearing, passionate TikTokkers came to Mr Chew’s defense and he went viral on his own platform.
Sapna Maheshwari, a business reporter at The New York Times who writes about TikTok, covered the roughly five-hour hearing and has since covered China’s response to US scrutiny of the app. In an interview, which has been edited, Ms. Maheshwari discussed her reporting, Washington’s suspicions and what happens next.
What were your conclusions from the hearing on 23 March?
I was really impressed with the tough tone lawmakers took with Shou Chew. It seemed that the 50-plus lawmakers who polled him were interested in using their five minutes to either voice their opinion on TikTok or follow up with a very specific line of question that matters to their constituents. It was quite aggressive and showed that there is not much love for TikTok in our government right now.
How much of that skepticism do you think has to do with anti-Chinese sentiment among politicians right now?
No politician will be blamed for being too harsh on China right now, and that is certainly part of what’s going on. But there is certainly quite a bit of criticism from lawmakers that could apply to other social media companies. TikTok’s CEO really tried to defend the platform by bringing that up multiple times. When you talk about anxiety, depression, and self-esteem issues among teens using TikTok, it’s fair to address similar concerns with Instagram.
Similarly, regarding data privacy issues, TikTok’s CEO has repeatedly said that his user data is in an even more secure position than with US tech companies. But people really weren’t interested in that conversation at the hearing.
Where do you think TikTok will go from here?
What makes this an incredibly compelling story is that it is completely unprecedented in the United States. If you look to history for examples, there has never been a case where the government tried to ban an app that 150 million Americans use on their smartphones. A lot of this really needs to be determined, which makes it an exciting beat to beat.
In the short term, the pace of the US government is not fast. We will see how the negotiations between the Biden administration and TikTok go. We’ve already seen a lot of concern from TikTokkers saying “Follow me on YouTube in case it’s banned” and taking other precautions. And as we recently reported, a new app is in the works from ByteDance called Lemon8.
What do you think of Lemon8 so far? Is this an attempt by ByteDance to circumvent the measures against TikTok?
From what I’ve learned from my sources, they started talking to ad agencies about this in January. At the time, TikTok was nervous that they hadn’t heard from the Biden administration, so there’s a chance they were worried about TikTok’s future in the US.
But Lemon8 seems to be a completely different kind of platform – they’ve positioned it as a complementary app to TikTok. There’s an interesting slide we found in our reporting from Lemon8; in its marketing materials, ByteDance showed a potential top app store chart with CapCut, their video editing tool, TikTok and Lemon8 as the top three apps.
I think this is ByteDance fearless, storming ahead and thinking, “We’re going to be the biggest and best app maker in America.”
Is there anything particularly challenging about dealing with evolving platforms like TikTok?
A one of the biggest challenges in covering technology platforms is how closely they are tailored to your personal interests and your internet behavior. You don’t want to put yourself in a silo, where you miss trends that other people see. I check in a lot with different companies that track what’s trending on TikTok, and with people who represent creators.
How often do you use TikTok in your personal life? Have the privacy concerns affected the way you use TikTok?
I definitely log in every day. I’ve seen with my own eyes how addictive it can be. The feed is very good at figuring out what you like right away. I have created a few accounts to vary the content.
It would be really hard to cover TikTok right now if I never used the app. I was certainly concerned after learning that American journalists were being monitored by ByteDance employees. The company says this is not their practice and that it was rogue employees. We’ll see how the FBI and Justice Department investigations turn out.
Do you have a tip for Sapna Maheshwari? Email her at sapna@CBNewz.
