A study from the Georgia Institute of Technology claims TikTok poses no threat to U.S. national security. The finding comes as more and more states are banning employees from using the Chinese social video platform on government devices. The study questions whether TikTok can be considered a tool of information warfare.
The study authors also found that the data collected by TikTok is “very similar” to the data already collected by its competitors. The risks include internet fragmentation, the threat of Chinese retaliation, and loss of competition in the social media market. They argue that such data “can only be of espionage value if it comes from users connected to national security functions”.
National security concerns arising from TikTok’s data collection practices were first raised by the Trump administration, which ultimately failed to enforce a total ban of both TikTok and WeChat. FBI Director Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee, resounded those concerns in November 2022, saying the Chinese government could use TikTok to “control data collection on millions of users or control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations.”Last June, a BuzzFeed investigation exposed alleged leaked audio from TikTok internal meetings.
