Op-Ed: TikTok tech threat — Let’s not get too simplistic.

Global action against TikTok, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, kicked off in earnest in India in 2020 — © AFP Fabrice COFFRINI

The US House of Representatives made a major statement when it passed the TikTok legislation. It also created a very tricky situation. The last thing complex China-American relations need is a negative showpiece. China, yet again, is seen as a threat.

The tortuous and somewhat misleading public logic is that because TikTok is Chinese, it’s a risk by definition. That’s the selling point. There is in fact a long theoretical chain of issues in which China could obtain information from Tik Tok under Chinese law.

Exactly how useful this vast amount of information would be to anyone, particularly China, isn’t discussed. User information tends to be very basic and market-oriented. You might even find out that Americans like watching videos, or some other breakthrough.

That’s not the whole story. It can be much more informative with some pretty basic tweaking. …, But on such a huge user base, who do you want information about? What information is likely to be useful?

Sound ridiculous? It is. It’s also not necessarily what this ban is about. You’ll be astonished to hear that there’s a far more rational reason for the ban.

TikTok is a major consumer entity. A lot of money goes through it. A lot of contributors create TikTok every second. TikTok is an advertising platform, a cultural big deal, and a direct link to practically anyone and everyone doing business in America.

…Meaning just about everyone in the US is exposed to TikTok, directly or indirectly. So maybe a bit of compliance is required, perhaps? Under US law, that’s a lot easier to do if TikTok has an American owner. Trying to enforce your laws on another country is pretty thankless.

This is where things stop being simple. TikTok isn’t just a Chinese entity in social media. It’s a colossal target. It’s a potential and actual scam factory. It’s also. A pretty obvious point of attack for hackers.

Develop these very obvious facts and you have a situation where anyone could use Tik Tok as a springboard for major damage. Because TikTok is Chinese, it’s a usual suspect for any sort of security issue. This is where “simple” turns into “dangerous” as in dangerous assumptions.

It doesn’t have to be a state actor. Just about any fool could set up fake TikTok accounts and start making money. In a more major league context, they could access specific targets for information through TikTok.

Nation states don’t need direct access to anything online. They usually act through third parties anyway, with exceptions. These hacks aren’t necessarily destructive. They’re much more about the theft of high-value information.

If you remember any of the countless cybersecurity issues flagged for decades by US agencies, you get it. Theft can be very lucrative. State actors do conduct theft, but why not delegate to perhaps millions of instant agents?

As you can see, there’s a lot more at stake than just who owns TikTok or whether it’s Chinese or not. It’s more about who owns the things that TikTok is capable of doing and the sheer scale of access to users.  

AI is another imponderable. AI access to TikTok could open far too many already obvious cans of worms. This is cybersecurity’s incoming major problem, and social media is the inevitable war zone. TikTok is front and center, yet again.

A lot of people talk about cybersecurity laws and enforcement. They tend to stop short of what’s possible and enforceable and what’s not. The last thing you need is a jurisdiction issue in the way when it comes to enforcement.

The genuine risks are increasing by the second. That’s what this ban is really about.

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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.