US to ban TikTok?

Healthy Body and Mind
22

Yes, the RESTRICT Act has given me a lot of pause due to its implications of eroded privacy. I do not believe it is the best way forward, and I have contacted my representative and senators to tell them that I would rather see COPPA amended to (1) raise the age at which children can share personal information online (and thereby use social media) from thirteen to sixteen and (2) to provide for more robust age verification than just the honor system. This is what I sent:

Amend COPPA for the modern digital age

The Internet has vastly changed since the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) went into effect in 2000; however, there has been little legislation in the interim addressing such issues as increasing suicidality in children resulting from misuse of social media when they are not developmentally ready for it. Your colleagues have introduced bills this session attempting to resolve these issues, such as H.R.821 and S.686; however, they all have shortcomings such as being limited to certain platforms.

The most comprehensive and effective—and least difficult or controversial—way to address these concerns is instead to amend COPPA, raising the age at which youth can share personal information online (and therefore use social media) from thirteen to sixteen as well as providing for more robust age verification. This would allow children to mature more before being exposed to addictive algorithms which often negatively impact their development, reversing the trend of declining mental health of children and ultimately saving lives.

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23

@whyoungblood This is one of those moments where, something are not always what they seem. I have to admit, I was all for the TikTok ban because of the security issues surrounding it & how China has access to that data. However, after looking more into it, this particular couse of action (THE RESTRICT ACT) may not be the best way to go.

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24

This is really scary:

A British journalist has said her TikTok account has been tracked and accessed by staff at the Chinese owned social network.

Cristina Criddle from the Financial Times had been working on a story about the culture inside TikTok’s UK operation, when staff used her data to try to identify her sources.

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25

Here’s a super chilling article from WSJ:

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26

I think they won’t do it now.

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27

Do you remember when Grindr (gay dating app) was China-owned for a while and, in the end, had to be sold?
I guess the scale is incomparable, but the concerns remain.

CFIUS expressed concern that data from the app’s some 27 million users could be used by the Chinese government. Last year, it was reported that while under Chinese ownership, Grindr allowed engineers in Beijing access to the personal data of millions of U.S. users, including their private messages and HIV status.

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This was an interesting tidbit of info that I did not know.

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That was definitely a surprising twist! Ownership changes in tech companies often bring up intriguing stories. Speaking of ownership, there have been similar discussions about TikTok, especially considering its parent company.

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