A TikTok ban could embolden authoritarian censorship, experts warn
The proposed TikTok ban could embolden censorship abroad, experts warn, and shatter the U.S.’s reputation as a free speech champion.
The proposed TikTok ban working its way through Congress could embolden authoritarian censorship abroad, experts warn, and shatter the United States’ reputation as an international champion of free speech.
The House of Representatives passed the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act on Wednesday. The bill still needs a Senate vote, and then to be signed by President Joe Biden. If signed into law, ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, would either be forced to sell TikTok, or the app would be banned from app stores, according to the bill’s proponents.
U.S. officials say the driving motivation to pass such a bill is to prevent TikTok from being used to disseminate Chinese propaganda or collect information on U.S. citizens for Chinese government use.
But to some critics of the bill, a ban would cede America’s moral authority when it condemns other countries over limiting their citizens’ internet access.
“The United States, particularly through the State Department, has been very vocal about other countries when they disable access to either parts of the internet or to social media services and other applications that are predominantly U.S.-based,” said Kate Ruane, who directs the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based tech policy think tank.
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