Douyin, a short video and video sharing platform owned by China Digital Beat Company, has gradually become popular around the world since its official launch in 2016. However, the security issues behind this platform have gradually received attention in recent years. Recently, this platform has officially become the target of governors and legislators in the United States, saying that there are major network security concerns behind this platform owned by a Chinese company.
According to reports on the NPR website, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a latest bill last Wednesday to completely ban users from installing the TikTok platform on devices issued by federal agencies. Prior to this, the governors from Maryland, South Dakota, Southern Colorado and Nebraska had issued executive orders against the use of this video program on their state government-issued mobile devices. This week, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho and Utah also joined them and issued relevant bans.
Information security concerns behind Douyin platform
The popularity of the platform across the country quickly attracted the attention of government officials, and just last November, FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed to U.S. senators that there were concerns behind the video app that could seize control of users’ devices, sparking heated discussions among the public. Soon after, many governors began banning state workers from using the program on officially issued devices, citing security concerns.
“Protecting the privacy of Alabama residents is a must, and I will not take any threat from China lightly. That is why I have decided to completely ban the use of TikTok on state-issued devices and the Internet,” said Alabama Governor Kay Ivey
Just after the governor of Alabama issued the ban, Utah Governor Spencer Cox also echoed this statement and expressed concerns about data security issues on social media.
“Our administrative units will take seriously any information security threats from China and Chinese companies. Therefore, we will immediately ban Douyin from state government-owned devices.” Spencer Cox said.
Additionally, this app is currently banned on devices provided by the U.S. military. As for the latest Senate bill ban on federal agency devices, it was sponsored by Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri. In a latest statement, he said that TikTok is a major security risk to the United States. Before it forces a complete severance of all relations with China, the platform does not have any place on US government devices. However, the Senate-passed bill would still provide exceptions for “law enforcement activities, national security interests and activities, and security researchers.”
Senators also plan to issue nationwide ban on TikTok
Marco Rubio, a Republican congressman from Florida, is currently planning a bipartisan bill that would ban TikTok altogether. The bill, which is still under development, is likely to “block and ban” any social media company platform from specific “countries of concern,” including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela. Officials and advocates supporting the bill worry that these foreign social media companies are likely to have an impact on domestic politics in the United States.
“Douyin has the ability to collect a large amount of personal information from our nationals. Since this platform is affiliated with China, this is indeed very likely to happen. Even if it is not certain whether it is happening now, it is indeed very likely that user information will be shared by the Chinese government,” said Marc Berkman, CEO of the Social Media Security Organization
In addition, Marc Berkman also emphasized that these foreign-affiliated technology companies are also likely to influence U.S. elections through “political propaganda” and “misleading information.”
Douyin platform’s popularity poses regulatory challenges
However, while U.S. government officials are working to impose various restrictions on the TikTok platform, Marc Berkman also admitted that it will be very difficult to get users to stop using the app. Just last year, app reports showed that platforms had billions of monthly active users.
“The number of users on the platform is really too high. There are extremely high commercial interests behind maintaining these users and services.” He said
At present, Douyin platform officials have not issued any response to the latest bill passed this time. The company has said that it will only store the information of American users in the database of its American branch and will not be affected by the content censorship requirements of the Chinese government. But in July, they admitted that some non-U.S. employees also had access to the personal data of U.S. users.
Source: KOCPC Chinese