Friday's ruling by the Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS), paving the way for an imminent ban on globally popular app TikTok, comes even as many in the U.S., including lawmakers, say there is "no credible evidence" the app presents a national security threat. A significant number of Americans don't support the ban, which will impact the livelihoods of millions of Americans, and see it as a sign of the massive disconnect between politicians and the public.
Signed by President Joe Biden last year, the controversial Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act requires TikTok to be sold or face a ban. The Biden administration argues the app poses a national security threat while ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, stands firm not to sell its subsidiary.
Now with the SCOTUS rejecting TikTok's appeal, the short video-streaming app has a Jan 19 deadline to divest or face a blackout in the U.S., which will prevent 170 million American users from accessing it.
This is not Washington's first bid to ban TikTok but it failed in the past. In 2020, two judges blocked the ban, ruling that the so-called national security threat was "hypothetical" and that the government "acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner." After the state of Montana passed a ban on TikTok in May 2023, a district judge issued an injuction against it, saying the move "violates the constitution" and "oversteps state power."
The reality is that the app is such a powerful tool that Donald Trump on his campaign trail signed up to it to attract young voters. Even Biden's campaign had a plan to use it to reach out to young voters. The full-throttle use of the app by presidential candidates debunks the notion that it is a national security threat.
In fact, TikTok can be be crucial in raising public awareness on critical issues such as climate change, and it can be used to counter hate crimes and violence, which the U.S. is increasingly grappling with. The app has become a platform for language-learning communities and educators and scholars; it is also an essential forum of expression for underrepresented voices such as people of color and other marginalized groups.
Besides facilitating entertainment and conversation, TikTok is an important source of revenue and job creation. Some 7 million businesses using TikTok are estimated to have contributed $24.2 billion to the U.S. GDP and supported 224,000 jobs in 2023. Banning TikTok would shut down a lot of those small businesses and hurt millions of Americans.
Last month, Trump asked the court to delay the ban so that he could find a "negotiated resolution" that would address the national security concerns while also preserve the rights of tens of millions of Americans. But by backing TikTok's ban, the SCOTUS sends out the message that it doesn't believe in a negotiated solution.
Usually, the SCOTUS takes about three months after an argument to issue a ruling. Yet in this case it did so within a week of the arguments.
TikTok has become a political lever in the U.S. During his first presidential term, Trump signed a pair of executive orders to bar Americans from doing business with TikTok and WeChat, alleging they were tools of corporate espionage. Then Biden expressed similar fears. The question is, if TikTok is a threat to U.S. national security, why did Biden in 2021 revoke Trump's executive order to ban TikTok and WeChat?
There are more instances of double standard. TikTok is accused of collecting Americans’ data and passing it on to the Chinese authorities. But the data TikTok has pales in comparison to what American tech companies collect. Besides, to allay this fear, TikTok shifted all its user data to servers in America. On the other hand, the U.S. has been pressuring its firms to create backdoors in their encrypted messaging apps to gain access to private communications. This is a clear attempt to use every Internet-connected device for enhanced surveillance.
By passing a law to shut down a social media platform, the Biden administration sets a dangerous precedent of unconstitutional government intervention in the corporate sector. This reinforces the belief that America is a threat to global businesses and resorts to questionable means to suppress the nations it perceives as rivals. Washington's actions imply a marked reversal from its so-called Internet policy of openness and free speech and are bound to discourage international firms from entering the U.S. market, fearing similar treatment.
The TikTok ban also has far-reaching consequences for the China-U.S. relationship. America's digital protectionism amplifies the perception of decoupling from China and weaponization of national security concerns to stifle fair competition. This, besides complicating the bilateral relationship described as the most important relationship in the world, could force Beijing to take retaliatory actions to safeguard its interests.
In this era of global community, the measure will balkanize the global Internet, disconnecting Americans from the rest of the world, and widen the global digital divide, when it is crucial to bridge it to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Hopefully, when Trump assumes office his administration will rectify this. After all, China-U.S. economic and technological cooperation holds the key to defusing tensions and supporting each other's development.
*My article that first appeared at the "CGTN"