Athira Sethu
Kochi, 23 December 2024
Donald Trump hinted that he may let TikTok remain in the United States as national security concerns rise. While addressing supporters in Phoenix, Arizona, Donald Trump revealed that TikTok helped him increase his campaign ahead of the November 2024 election. He said his team showed him a chart that demonstrated how TikTok had helped him in terms of popularity, and he described it as “so beautiful to see.” Trump jokingly said, “Maybe we gotta keep this sucker around for a little while.”
This statement shows that the Trump administration might not push for banning TikTok, which has faced increased scrutiny because of its Chinese ownership. The app is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company, and has been under pressure from US lawmakers who believe it could be a national security threat. Earlier this year, the US Senate passed a law that requires ByteDance to sell TikTok. However, ByteDance has appealed this law to the US Supreme Court.
Now, the fate of TikTok in the US depends on how sternly Trump’s team would act against it. Trump recently met with the CEO of TikTok and told the press that he had a “warm spot” for the app because it helped his campaign. Still, the US Justice Department believes TikTok’s Chinese ownership to be a security risk. Officials fear that the Chinese government may force ByteDance to share its users’ data or manipulate the app’s algorithm in order to influence public opinion in the US.
TikTok denies and holds that it had made comprehensive efforts to prevent foreign influence penetration into user data targeting its US users, arguing further that their ban against the app breaches the right to freedom of speech granted by the U.S. Constitution in the First Amendment.
As of now, the debate is going on, and it has not been decided whether TikTok will be allowed to stay in the US or whether it will be banned.
