TikTok Being Banned From App Stores?
The privacy policies of popular social media platform Tiktok have come into question and as a result it may up being banned from apps stores.
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TikTok has surpassed its social media contemporaries over the past year. It’s become increasingly popular in younger age demographics and is one of the only social media companies not succumbing to the overarching stock market plummet. But some are concerned about TikTok’s influence and possible surveillance, including the FCC. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr wants the app removed from Apple and Google stores because he believes the site could be more dangerous than it lets on.
Carr posted his open letter to Apple and Google on Twitter last week. The letter stated that he believes TikTok is a wolf in “sheep’s clothing,” with its dance videos used to distract from its surveillance tactics. Carr described TikTok’s methods of recording many users’ personal data, something other social media sites have also been known to do. The letter ended with Car strongly urging both Apple and Google to remove the video app from their stores.
Though it’s known that sites like Facebook and Instagram have sold user data to third-party marketplaces, some of Carr’s claims about Tiktok’s data mining aren’t corroborated. Specifically, Carr’s belief that the Chinese government accesses United States users’ data through TikTok has not been proven. The letter also described how TikTok hasn’t complied with Google or Apple’s terms of service regarding privacy, but that allegation doesn’t have any evidence either. Still, the FCC commissioner is determined to remove the video app from online stores due to his concern for user safety.
For years, TikTok has faced numerous allegations around surveillance due to its parent company ByteDance. Since ByteDance is operated out of Beijing, many make false claims about China utilizing the app to surveil US citizens and gather data. The anxiety around a Chinese company owning TikTok culminated in Trump attempting to persuade ByteDance to sell the app. Trump publically stated he would ban the app from American stores if the divestment didn’t occur. A new executive appointment in the company changed the conversation between China and the US, making TikTok available for American users. Once Biden was sworn in, Republicans going after the video app died down, with the current administration voicing no qualms about a Chinese company owning TikTok.
Earlier this month, TikTok announced that it would store its US data on a different server. US user data is now going to be relocated to Oracle storage locations, which is an American computer software company. Executives of the video app believed that securing US citizens’ data in an American-owned server would diminish calls for ByteDance to relinquish its TikTok acquisition. But for Carr, this change isn’t enough to undermine his belief that TikTok’s primary usage is surveillance.
Commissioner Carr’s call on Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their stores isn’t an innocuous request but an ultimatum. His tweet stated that he needs Appl and Google to respond by July 8th, explaining why the video app remains downloadable. Though the FCC commissioner wants a quick response, Apple, Google, and TikTok have not responded to his tweet or request. As Carr’s tweet circulates widely on the internet, it’s unclear if any government or company will step in to address his claims.
