TikTok—a Chinese video-sharing social media platform that has around 800 million active users worldwide—has recently caught global attention. Countries worldwide fear that TikTok provides user data to the Chinese government, allowing them to store foreign data within China. According to Josh Taylor, a Guardian Australia reporter who focuses on politics and technology, states that TikTok, “had been reading the clipboard information on users’ devices (that is where something is stored when you click copy on text or an image)” (Taylor). This means that an abnormal amount of user data and personal information is sent to servers located in mainland China. Even though TikTok has denied connections with the Chinese government, countries like India still worry and have called TikTok a dangerous threat to their sovereignty and security. As a result, nations ranging from Bangladesh to India have banned the app to ensure national security. The United States of America and Australia are also deeply concerned about the dangers inflicted by TikTok upon their citizens, causing them to consider finalizing a ban on the app.
What do you think? Should TikTok be banned in order to ensure the safety of the people? Should it be treated as a normal social media platform, such as Instagram or Facebook? Is the reason for banning an app linked to political conflict between nations?
