TikTok fights for survival in latest filing as ban approaches
NPR Online NewsAUG 2024
Court Hears Challenge to US TikTok Law
Image copyright: Michael M. Santiago/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
This is a bad law in search of a problem to regulate. TikTok doesn't coordinate anything with the Chinese government. If the courts don't stop this law, the US government will be disrupting an uncountable number of marketing and retail businesses — in addition to violating millions of citizens' rights to free speech — just to look tough on China, which is doing nothing wrong.
Pro-establishment narrative
This law must stand. Even if the Chinese government hasn't exerted control over ByteDance or TikTok, the fact is these companies aren't beholden to any shareholders but are to the Communist Party of China — and that's why there's risk to American users. Two recent studies show how the app is biased toward China's point of view and is integrated in China's propaganda apparatus.
Metaculus Prediction
There's a 62% chance that TikTok will still be available and owned by a foreign adversary on Dec. 31, 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
