Will US Ban TikTok – Is It Because Of Spying?

In the wake of TikTok making an emphatic presence in US households and being the third most searchable app after Facebook and Twitter, there has been constant news of the app being banned. Rightly so, as the threat to national security is of paramount importance.

Will US Ban TikTok?

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has sensed amiss if the app continued to play unabated, which could result in danger. Even though, Trump aired his concerns about the need to ban the app in 2020 citing a security threat.

However, the court in response said that the president is overstepping his authority and so it blocked the ban.

The court further said that banning Tiktok is exempted from the emergency power that the president wants to exercise as the rule prohibits interfering with personal communication.

However, it gains greater significance in 2022 when the news emerged about ByteDance employees have the access to the app users. This infuriated national security FBI director Christopher Wray.

There have been recent bans in the republican led states. However, what couldn’t be officially implemented during that time, the process could very well be underway, given the US government’s approval.

So What’s That?

Well, the approval marks that the system is effective regarding the unprecedented ban on the use of TikTok on federal government devices. The restriction is a part of a more significant move aimed at the concerns about the app’s future in the US in the wake of a crackdown from lawmakers belonging to state and federal. The consensus by the officials relates to the necessity of the ban as it poses a threat to national security.

Why Did The Proposal To Ban TikTok Gain Grounds?

The most obvious reason for banning TikTok is a lurking danger on federal government-issued devices since the app belongs to the China-based parent company ByteDance. The news gains even further significance as the US ally India has already banned Tiktok.

The Officials of the US are concerned that the app may use to access devices and US user data, for their malafide interest, thus posing a grave danger to the US economy in the future.

Joe Biden Soon To Follow Suit:

Now, current U.S. president Biden as part of an obvious move is to follow in the footsteps of Trump’s 2020 order. The order is supposed to cancel US data centers, networking providers, and of course app stores to terminate the contracts with the app.

The news is also gaining grounds that Biden may move a step closer to finding a legally viable authority that will give him the power to order all service networks and internet service providers to initiate complete block access to TikTok in the US.

If that works, then it will be the first of its kind, in the history of the US. It can be better understood through the regular practice currently happening where the individual ISP can prevent users to connect to specific servers, block certain websites that violate copyrights or child abuse, etc.

A full-fledged law that will bind internet service providers to initiate the aforesaid steps can only be the need of the hour. Even the practice of domain name blocking by states, US companies, and schools right in their local network has started to curtail the growing menace which Tiktok is posing.

The Democratic senator Mark Warner (Virginia) has also expressed his encouragement to the ban of Tiktok on a series of government-centric devices and requested more states to follow suit.

Ban On TikTok By Other Countries:

India which is one of the closest friends of the U.S. has already banned Tiktok. The country is at loggerheads with China with the border dispute as leaving no time, it has banned over 50 other Chinese apps as part of a necessary step and threat to national security. Indonesia has imposed a temporary ban. While few other countries have banned TikTok for a few months at the most.

Why Only TikTok? Other Apps Should Follow Suit:

Although, there is complete unanimity regarding the ban that should be imposed on Tiktok. Even civil advocacy groups in the form of Electronic Frontier Foundation and Fight for the Future have opined that the concerns are justifiable, but they went further to say that there should be a complete ban on other apps and services, otherwise, that’s going to be of no use.

The group also opines that it may be comparably easier to gain access to the app through Tiktok, but the chances can’t be ruled out from other apps. They believe, that the government can easily get data from other apps. This has been the most obvious reaction from Evan Greer who is the director of Fight for the Future.

Conclusion:

The unabated and continuous usage of TikTok in the U.S. has made it the third most popular social network. The growing popularity is also a threat for a ‘possible’ and ‘potential’ backlash if the steps to ban started. So, what implication it may have? Well, a big chunk of users may be angry at the lawmakers.