The US Supreme Court is set to rule on a law that could force the shutdown of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, asking whether it is the embodiment of free speech in the digital age or a threat to national security. There is a heated debate as to whether it is a threat. . Opinions are also changing from President-elect Donald Trump, who once supported banning highly addictive video apps from U.S. app stores but now wants to slow things down.
“The opinions that ultimately matter here are those of the Chinese people who control this app,” Peter Schweitzer said in the latest episode. drill down Podcast. And that view is that TikTok is a valuable weapon in communist China's war against the West, Schweitzer said.
Schweitzer's best sellers of 2024 blood money Close ties between TikTok's parent company ByteDance and Chinese intelligence agencies have been revealed. The revelations prompted Congress to investigate the issue, ultimately passing legislation that would effectively force digital apps owned by foreign adversaries to be sold to Americans or shut down.
Schweitzer said the real verdict will come after the Supreme Court's decision. What will China do? rear Court's decision? He noted that any sale of TikTok would require approval from the Chinese government and U.S. regulators. Meta's Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg both want to buy this app just to kill it. The app has been downloaded 4.9 billion times worldwide.
Schweitzer points out that if China refuses to agree to the sale, he has made it clear that: blood moneythe algorithm used in the app is state Not a normal “business” secret. The Chinese government has reportedly called the app a “modern-day Trojan horse” and a “key part of intelligence-driven psychological warfare” against the West. The book showed that ByteDance was collaborating with Chinese intelligence agencies on how to manipulate people online.
“China has been studying this for years,” he added.
India recognizes the threat posed by TikTok; prohibited In that country. The United States could follow suit this weekend, depending on whether the court approves the ban.
TikTok was already attracting the attention of social media critics at the time. blood money This book documents the close collaboration between ByteDance, Chinese intelligence agencies, and the Chinese Communist Party. Shortly after, Schweitzer and other GAI researchers met with members of the House Select Committee and various senators to share details of their work on TikTok. Two months later, a bill mandating the sale of TikTok to an American company was passed by Congress and signed by President Biden, setting the stage for this week's legal battle.
“It's funny that the fate of TikTok for teenagers will be decided by the next president of the United States, who is 78 years old, when the average age of the Supreme Court is about 70,” co-host Eric Eggers quipped.
“President Trump now appears to want a delay,” Schweizer said. “Perhaps what he really wants is to use the potential ban as leverage in his dealings with China on other issues, such as fentanyl and tariffs.”
Also consider what kind of host it is. Whack-a-mole Games could be played if TikTok is banned. already, media coverage About similar growth, a Chinese app called “Little Red Book” has emerged. Will this start a never-ending game of “banned apps”?
“China will have to decide whether to sell the app or leave it alone,” Schweitzer said. “So if they don't agree to a sale, China would rather let it disappear than give up the algorithms that make it happen.”
The power of algorithms to influence young minds is clear when you compare TikTok's curated selection of silly dance videos to the science experiments and discussions of Chinese literature available in its China-only version. Doon. “Dowin is celery and carrots. TikTok is like a big bag of donuts,” Eggers says.
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