The Story

Time could be TikTok’ing in the US for the popular app.

Go on.

On Thursday, TikTok's CEO, Shou Zi Chew, will make his first appearance before Congress. He’s expected to testify about the app’s consumer privacy and data security practices, its impact on kids, and its ties to the Chinese government. It comes as the Justice Dept has launched an investigation into whether TikTok spied on American citizens, especially journalists. And as concerns grow that the company could share user data with the Chinese gov, or that it could be ordered to push propaganda or misinformation.

Tell me more.

Reminder: TikTok is owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance, which is subject to Chinese laws — including one that allows the government to force a company to hand over data. That's partly why at least 25 states and all federal agencies have already banned the app from government-issued devices. And why other countries around the world — most recently, the UK and New Zealand — have put similar bans in place. While TikTok is no stranger to controversy, the buzz has reached a new pitch, with the Biden admin talking about a nationwide ban, unless TikTok’s parent company agrees to sell its shares.

How did we get here?

The drama surrounding TikTok goes back to the Trump administration — when Trump said he wanted to ban the platform completely. When he tried, it was blocked by a federal judge. Since then, the app has been negotiating with a US panel on a possible deal that could address privacy and data security concerns. And it said it’d transfer its US user data to Oracle servers. In the meantime, tensions between the US and China (think: spy balloons) have heightened. Closer to home, lawmakers are worried about TikTok being dangerous for kids — so much so that TikTok is one of the few issues that has Congress reaching across the aisle. Earlier this month, a bipartisan group intro’d a bill that’d give the president’s admin powers to restrict or even ban tech originating from China, and five other countries, if there’s a threat to US national security.

What would that even look like?

Experts say a ban isn’t likely — but, if it were, that could mean that ByteDance would become illegal to do business with in the US. So, American companies like Apple and Google would be blocked from hosting TikTok in their app stores. Over time, TikTok on people’s devices would become slower and harder to use, since there’d be no app updates allowed. But experts say that a ban may once again run up against legal hurdles.

theSkimm

For the approximately 1 in 3 Americans who use TikTok: No one's banning the app from your personal phone yet. But this week’s testimony from the viral app’s CEO is an important moment in the debate over what to do about security issues. TBD what Congress — and President Biden — will decide to do about it.