TikTok influencers are furious at U.S. politicians for passing legislation against their favorite social media platform, but one cybersecurity expert says “alarming” events with TikTok are the impetus for supporting the bill. He said it had become.
The law passed Congress in April and was signed by President Joe Biden. This would force TikTok’s parent company to sell the platform or face a ban among its users in the U.S. A platform-prompted campaign by influencers backfired in March, after users filed a lawsuit against Congress. and at least one person threatened to commit suicide if the law was passed. Far from deterring politicians, the unreasonable uproar demonstrated the dangers of the app.
“It’s really weird and it just caught our eye.”
Stephen McKeon is Founder and CEO He is a member of MacguyverTech and MacNerd and spoke to Blaze Media about the incident that led him to support restrictions on TikTok.
McKeon said his company was employed by a U.S. company that had been targeted by Russian hackers who used BlackBit ransomware. In this hacking technique, a malicious attacker remotely locks the victim’s data and demands a payment in exchange for the data to be returned to the owner’s possession.
McKeon said his company began monitoring its internal devices to see how hackers were manipulating data when it saw something, in his words, “disturbing.” .
“So we got a lot of unique data from China,” he explained. “The data was being sent to China from the application, and upon closer inspection, it was actually Tiktok data from customers or their clients who were using Tiktok at work.”
Typically, digital information is sent to a data center in the United States, but that was not the case with TikTok, he said.
“So it was really weird and it kind of jumped out at us. We didn’t find it on purpose. It was just something we found doing research for other purposes,” McKeon said. said.
McKeon said he could not release specific details of the hacking incident because it is still under investigation. He further stated that he personally heard from colleagues in the industry who witnessed the exact same data transmission from the TikTok app.
“So I think this is a little worrying, at least from that perspective,” he added.
Other evidence of data collection has been reported by researchers including the Network Infection Research Institute, which says that “TikTok systematically promotes content based on whether it is in or against the interests of the Chinese government.” Or they are demoted.”
History of TikTok regulation
Concerns that the communist Chinese government could weaponize data collected through the TikTok app led local governments to pass their own bans to protect state agencies.
In December 2022, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) signed a bill banning the use of TikTok on official devices used by state employees. The move was widely seen as a precursor to a federal ban.
“While TikTok claims to store U.S. data in the United States, the company acknowledged in a letter to Congress that employees based in China have access to U.S. data. , it was also reported that ByteDance was planning to use TikTok’s location information to monitor individuals “American citizens,” he explained at the time.
Just three months later, the federal government banned TikTok from devices used for official government business.
Silicon Valley’s counterattack
A bipartisan effort to separate TikTok from communist China’s control may actually be an attempt by the U.S. tech company to use government power to crush one of its most formidable competitors. Some people have doubts.
“When you step back and follow the money, it becomes clear: Through superior algorithms, TikTok was able to beat Silicon Valley and seize market dominance with a product that conquered the youngest demographic. Because they were better at locking them in as users. Despite pushing Reels and Shorts and spending billions of dollars, Meta’s Facebook and Google’s YouTube couldn’t catch up.” wrote Peter Gietle for Blaze Media in March.
He went on to point out how these companies spent millions of dollars to gain influence in Congress. Gietl also gave a scathing review of the restrictive legislation, which not only allows the government to ban TikTok but also expands the federal government’s power to regulate speech on other platforms.
“This law could be the most invasive and authoritarian law passed in the last 100 years,” Gietl continued.
“With the stroke of a pen, this agency would take control of all digital communications with explicit authority to ‘enforce mitigation measures to address any risks.’”
glenn beckThe Blaze Media co-founder opposed the bill after hosting a debate between Republican lawmakers on both sides of the issue.
“I don’t trust a government that seeks more control over its people while making bed with big business technology and China. I don’t trust a government that seems to care less about its people than an oligarchy. “We’re not going to give more power to the rich, big business, and lawyers, and we’re not going to give more power to a president who won’t uphold the Constitution at all costs,” Beck said. .
Gietl’s assessment is even more dire.
“Even if you think China is the most violent dictatorship on earth and TikTok is corrupting the minds of American teens, giving the government this power is guaranteed by the Constitution. “This is a fatal step towards the final end of this form of government,” he concluded. .
Is TikTok worse than Instagram or Facebook?
MacKeon referred to claims that TikTik does nothing materially different from the data collection by other platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
“I think they’re all in the data collection business,” McKeon said. “But I think what they’re doing with that data collection is a little bit different, because like companies like Facebook and Meta, Google and other companies are basically under the umbrella of the U.S. government. Although it is somewhat regulated like medicine, it also means that certain practices and rules must be followed.
“In China, we don’t really care about that,” he added.
To support his claim, MacKeon said China does not allow TikTok to operate within its borders and instead provides its citizens with a different message than that delivered to the rest of the world. It points out the well-documented fact that you are using different versions of the application.
“It’s something that magnifies the good in humans, it’s more educational, it’s more caring, but ours isn’t. And while our version is banned in China, they “Why are there two versions? If this is so good, why is it banned?” Isn’t it the same in mainland China? ” he asked rhetorically.
“Why can’t a Chinese version exist here in America so people can be more attentive and helpful?” he added. “Why are other things banned? We have kind of a strange situation here. We have a government that controls everything in China, and I think that unfortunately spills over into the United States. ”
Former Google employee Tristan Harris reported on the differences between the two apps in a 2022 interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
“They seem to realize that technology is impacting children’s development, so they’re making the domestic version the spinach version of TikTok and shipping the opium version overseas.” Harris explained.
“If you’re under 14 years old, we show you science experiments you can do at home, museum exhibits, patriotic videos, and educational videos,” he said of the version of the app allowed in China.
“Profit equals screen time, and screen time equals advertisers.”
More importantly, there is growing evidence that addiction to social media apps can negatively impact the lives of users and their families.
“These things are really good at getting that dopamine hit and keeping you interested. TikTok’s sweet spot is about 7 seconds, but how much value do you get from 7 seconds?” McKeon says. continued. “They’re just meant to get attention, but I think they actually destroy the dynamics of communication.”
Apart from shortening attention spans, there are numerous examples of TikTok challenges going viral, leading to vandalism, serious injuries, and even death.
“Unfortunately, these companies are driven by profit, and profit equals screen time, and screen time equals advertisers,” he added.
McKeon also said his stance on TikTok puts him at odds with his friends who make a living from the popular app.
“I have a lot of friends who are influencers and make a living from TikTok and social media platforms. They are not happy with my position here,” he explained. “I’m friends with them, but I don’t think this is just a matter of you making a few bucks and making a living. This is a matter of your well-being.”
“The blank space of black time”
McKeon said that no matter what happens with TikTok, people who waste too much time on social media platforms should reconsider their priorities and focus on their lives away from screens.
“Honestly, from my own experience, I think limiting your time is a good thing. Too much of a good thing can be bad. It’s like the law of diminishing returns. ” he said. “When I watch my friends swipe all day, it feels like the world disappears around them. It’s like a black void of time.”
He has stopped using TikTok for months and said he believes his life would be healthier if he completely reduced his exposure to social media.
McKeon concluded by warning that the dark side of social media is likely to worsen as artificial intelligence improves its ability to deceive app users and make them more addictive.
“We do AI development. We’re also an AI-enabled shop. I think AI is a great accelerator. All of these things are going to get faster more often.” he explained. “How do you know if you’re communicating with a real person on TikTok? They’re already so good at it that it’s hard to tell what’s human and what’s not.”
The bill would give TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, nine months to sell the platform or face a U.S. ban, and the company said it would sue to stop enforcement of the bill. Ta.
Blaze Media reached out to TikTok for comment on MacKeon’s allegations, but the company’s attorney did not respond to requests for details of the accusations.
Do you like Blaze News? Avoid censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. Please register here!
