Here’s something I never thought I’d say: President Biden is on my mind at bedtime. Like many of you, I frequently fall victim to the late-night TikTok scroll as part of my bedtime routine. But now I’m wondering about the fate of our beloved TikTok due to President Biden’s signing of a bill that would cause the app to be banned in the U.S. if the Chinese parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t divest from the app.
As someone who has worked in digital media for her whole career and even self-identifies as being “chronically online” in my spare time, I‘ve had many conversations with friends and colleagues about what this ban could mean for the future of American society’s favorite video app. President Biden signed The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (April 2024) after officials brought to attention major security threats that TikTok poses to national security such as the alleged spreading of anti-U.S. propaganda, the sharing of personal data with the Chinese government, and the potential for the Chinese government to install malicious software on unknowing citizens’ devices. Opinions on the matter range from the concerningly unconcerned “What useful information could the Chinese government possibly gain from me?” to media-fed hysteria calling TikTok “digital fentanyl.” Realistically, I think that most rational critical thinkers who favor the app would consider their opinion on the ban to fall in the middle.
On one hand, we live in a global society and should have access to content that expands our worldview. TikTok has been a window into the lives of the famous and the mundane across all parts of the world. However, without proper policies in place to regulate and protect personal data, there is a threat to our online safety. In my work in media planning, I’m regularly analyzing data collected from online activity that shows where people spend time, what their hobbies are, how they spend money, and what influences their decision-making process. It’s easy to understand how access to this kind of information in the wrong hands could easily be organized to create something insidious. Just as we have put in place HIPPA laws to keep personal medical data safe, I believe that putting laws into place on who can access our personal data online would make us all safe.
On the other hand, I don’t want to see TikTok banned. I have found TikTok to be not only a place to entertain myself, but it has become one of the spaces I’ve learned the most from in the last three years. Whether I’m learning something light like new easy recipes for summer or something more intense like watching first-hand footage from students protesting for gun regulation at the Tennessee capitol, I feel that I’m exposed to a wide variety of content that isn’t easily available or accessible anywhere else. I like that the short-form video format is time efficient and that the algorithm knows my preferences well enough to suggest more videos in my feed similar to the ones that I’ve already interacted with. If it were banned, I would feel that I had really lost a valuable resource.
So why can’t another company just make a copycat version of TikTok? Unfortunately, it’s just not a realistic endeavor. Mark Zuckerberg and the team at Meta already did that when they launched Instagram Reels in 2020. I have tried to make the switch to Instagram Reels, but there’s a feeling of being on the “knockoff” platform while I’m there. The trends are behind, and I’m stuck listening to songs or soundbites that were popular on TikTok two months ago but am now sick of. While many other people likely have ideas on how they could replicate the feel of TikTok on a non-Meta app, it’s well speculated that Zuckerberg holds enough power in the tech world to squash those attempts. Whether it’s within Silicon Valley or in Washington D.C., Meta leads the conversations in America surrounding social media and with the effort that Zuckerberg has put into crafting the narrative around TikTok, you can tell that he will not lose out on that audience without a fight.
Whether ByteDance makes the move to divest its majority shares in TikTok to allow the app to keep running in the U.S. or a full ban goes into place this January, there is one thing for certain: short-form video content and freedom of speech are two things the American people will not give up. In the meantime, sweet TikTok dreams, President Biden.
Allison Siegel has been working in digital marketing for 9 years both internally on brand teams and at agencies. From small start-ups to large-scale clients, she has seen the impact that smart, strategic digital media placement can impact the trajectory of a brand. When she steps away from the online world of social media, you can catch Allison exploring the Richmond restaurant scene or reading a book on the hill of the VMFA.