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Written by Ben Backus, a retired military aviator and corporate educator and by Jack Bernard, a retired corporate SVT who sits on numerous boards.

“A substantial investment in research funding is needed, including long-term longitudinal research, studies of younger children, and research on marginalized populations.” -American Psychological Association (APA) regarding social media

Research has suggested that issues such as anxiety, depression, and body image among younger users are serious issues.  Further, the addictive nature of endless scrolling on TikTok and the need for instant gratification is leading to unhealthy screen time habits. The APA has a whole series of recommendations regarding social media and our children.

But the bottom line is that we really do not know enough about how TikTok and the like affect the growth of young minds (https://www.apa.org/topics/social-media-internet/health-advisory-adolescent-social-media-use). Or how TikTok, owned by ByteDance (a China-based company), can be misused for nefarious purposes, as explained below.

A recently passed bipartisan federal law  has banned TikTok, infuriating its 170 million U.S. users. The Supreme Court upheld US law, finding that national security risks posed by TikTok’s ties to China outweigh concerns about freedom of speech. ByteDance was given until January 19, 2025, to sell … but did not attempt to divest.

However, the law gave President Trump power (which he used, extending the reprieve for 75 days) to reinstate TikTok for up to 90 days whereby a US buyer can be found. Thus, if ByteDance refuses to sell by April, strong US penalties will take effect. Existing users will still be able to access the app.  However, without updates or new downloads, the app will eventually become degraded or inoperable.

TikTok collects vast amounts of user data including location, browsing history, and personal information.  As the Supreme Court stated- China “engaged in extensive and yearslong efforts to accumulate structured datasets, in particular on U.S persons, to support its intelligence and counterintelligence operations.”  Thus, TikTok has become an open window into American society for the Chinese government, a thinly concealed spy program.   

Younger generations get much of their news from TikTok, an addictive app. Content is provided by whoever wants to post something. Thus, our children are becoming less informed… or just plain misinformed… because of “Influencer” biases. Such influencers may or may not have any expertise or facts. Most just have an “opinion”, with their followers drawn in due to the appeal of their memes.

Users allow TikTok access to their pictures, their contacts, their microphone, their camera, and their screen. TikTok then determines what content users see. 

That makes TikTok dangerous because China goal is to manipulate US public opinion and politics via propaganda. Narratives favorable to China are promoted, and negatives suppressed, molding public opinion.

Further, because China has our data, cybersecurity risks are substantial, with data used for blackmail or leverage. Even if TikTok is sold to a non-Chinese company, there are still concerns about the Chinese government potentially accessing TikTok content.  The proprietary Chinese algorithm that powers TikTok is a key component of its success.

Of course, there could be a significant economic impact if TikTok is not divested and is banned. TikTok revenue is about $1.3 billion per month worldwide, much of that generated in the US. Several U.S. tech companies support TikTok (Oracle, Microsoft, and Amazon) and will lose revenue.  Further, many American “content creators” and small businesses rely on TikTok for marketing and sales. Without TikTok, they will have to find other platforms.

However, there are competitors to TikTok which inevitably would quickly evolve as alternative platforms. And stocks of these U.S. social media corporations would benefit when users migrated to them. Among the US/allied owned current alternatives are- 

Instagram Reels allowing users to create and share short TikTok type videos.

Clapper, offering short clips, live streaming, and a shopping place.

YouTube Shorts video platform.

Why is Tik Toc important to US society? Does our need for amusement, and economic benefit for corporations, outweigh US national security interests? Just how willing we are to expose ourselves and the details of our lives to the Chinese government?

Our world has become far more complicated both politically and scientifically.  The impact of social media is life-changing for the entire world, not just our national economy. 

But the question remains, “have we done enough to secure a safe and stable world for our grandchildren and great grandchildren”.  We are very worried but hope that our nation will take actions to ensure this goal.