From Dance Trends to Diplomatic Dilemmas: TikTok’s Evolution into a National Security Concern

SAN FRANCISCO — If it seems like TikTok has existed for an eternity, that’s likely because it has, at least when considering internet time. The current question is whether it will continue to last much longer and, if it does, in what capacity?

Since 2017, when the Chinese social video platform merged with its rival Musical.ly, TikTok has evolved from a niche application for adolescents into a worldwide trend influencer. Naturally, it has also emerged as a potential national security risk, according to officials from the United States.

On April 24, President Joe Biden enacted legislation necessitating that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance divest to a U.S. owner within one year or cease operations. TikTok and its parent company based in China, ByteDance, initiated a lawsuit against the United States, asserting that the security worries were exaggerated and the law should be annulled as it infringes upon the First Amendment.

The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the federal statute prohibiting TikTok starting Jan. 19 unless ByteDance sells it.

Here’s the timeline of TikTok’s progress to this point:

March 2012

ByteDance is established in China by entrepreneur Zhang Yimin. Its initial successful product is Toutiao, a tailored news aggregator for Chinese users.

July 2014

Startup Musical.ly, well-known later for an app that allows users to post short lipsyncing music videos, is founded in China by entrepreneur Alex Zhu.

July 2015

Musical.ly achieves #1 rank in the Apple App Store, after a design modification made the company’s branding visible when users shared their videos.

2016

ByteDance introduces Douyin, a video-sharing application for the Chinese audience. Its success prompts the company to launch a version for international markets called TikTok.

November 2017

ByteDance acquires Musical.ly for $1 billion. Nine months later, ByteDance amalgamates it with TikTok.

Fueled by an algorithm that promotes binge-watching, users start sharing a diverse array of videos on the application, featuring dance routines, culinary demonstrations, and a variety of “challenges” showcasing acts ranging from earnest to satirical.

February 2019

Rapper Lil Nas X debuts the country-trap track “Old Town Road” on TikTok, where it quickly gains traction, propelling the song to a historic 17-week reign at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This phenomenon sparks an influx of TikTok videos from musical artists who quickly recognize TikTok as a vital platform to connect with fans.

TikTok resolves federal allegations of breaching U.S. child-privacy regulations and consents to a $5.7 million penalty.

September 2019

The Washington Post reveals that while visuals of Hong Kong democracy demonstrations and police responses are prevalent on most social media platforms, they are curiously lacking on TikTok. This same article notes that TikTok posts tagged with #trump2020 garnered over 70 million views.

The company maintains that TikTok’s content moderation, performed in the U.S., is not culpable and insists the app serves as a venue for entertainment rather than political discourse.

The Guardian unveils internal documents indicating how TikTok allegedly directs its moderators to eliminate or restrict the exposure of videos addressing topics sensitive to China such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and the resulting massacre, Tibetan independence, or the regulated religious entity Falun Gong.

October 2019

U.S. lawmakers begin to sound the alarm regarding TikTok’s impact, urging a federal investigation into its acquisition of Musical.ly and a national security inquiry into TikTok and other Chinese-owned applications. That investigation commences in November, according to reports.

December 2019

The Pentagon advises all U.S. military personnel to erase TikTok from both personal and government-issued devices. Some branches prohibit the application on military-issued phones. In January, the Pentagon imposes a ban on the app across all military phones.

TikTok ascends to the position of the second-most downloaded application globally, according to data from analytics firm SensorTower.

May 2020

Privacy advocacy groups lodge a complaint stating TikTok continues to violate U.S. child-protection statutes and disregarding a 2019 settlement agreement. The company asserts it “takes safety matters seriously” and is consistently enhancing its safeguards.

TikTok appoints former Disney executive Kevin Mayer as its CEO in an evident attempt to enhance its relations within the U.S. However, Mayer resigns three months later.

July 2020

India prohibits TikTok alongside many other Chinese applications following a border confrontation with China.

President Donald Trump indicates he is considering banning TikTok as a countermeasure to China’s purported mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic.

August 2020

Trump issues a comprehensive yet ambiguous executive order prohibiting American companies from engaging in any “transactions” with ByteDance and its subsidiaries, including TikTok. A few days later, he issues a second directive demanding that ByteDance divest TikTok’s U.S. operations within a timeframe of 90 days.

Microsoft acknowledges it is considering the acquisition of TikTok. However, the deal does not materialize; nor does a similar proposal from Oracle and Walmart. Meanwhile, TikTok sues the Trump administrationfor purported transgression of due process in its executive orders.

November 2020

Joe Biden is chosen as president. He does not present new regulations regarding TikTok and will not assume office until January, but Trump’s intentions to mandate the sale of TikTok begin to unravel nonetheless. The Trump administration prolongs the timeframes it had set for ByteDance and TikTok and ultimately allows them to lapse completely.

February 2021

Newly inaugurated President Joe Biden delays the legal proceedings related to Trump’s strategy to prohibit TikTok, effectively bringing them to a standstill.

September 2021

TikTok declares that it has surpassed one billion monthly active users.

December 2021

A Wall Street Journal article reveals that TikTok algorithms can inundate teens with a barrage of detrimental content such as videos advocating extreme dieting, a variety of eating disorder.

February 2022

TikTok announces new regulations aiming to deter the dissemination of harmful content such as viral fabrications and promotion of eating disorders.

April 2022

“The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,” a venture created by two enthusiasts of the Netflix series as a TikTok initiative, wins the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.

TikTok ascends as the most downloaded application globally, surpassing Instagram, as per SensorTower data.

June 2022

BuzzFeed reports that ByteDance employees located in China have repeatedly accessed private information of TikTok users, based on leaked recordings from over 80 internal TikTok meetings. TikTok responds with a vague statement highlighting its dedication to security that does not specifically address the BuzzFeed report.

TikTok also reveals it has shifted its user data to U.S. servers overseen by the American tech firm Oracle. Nevertheless, it does not quell new concerns among U.S. officials regarding the risk of Chinese authorities accessing U.S. user data.

December 2022

FBI Director Chris Wrap raises national security worries about TikTok, cautioning that Chinese officials could exploit the app’s recommendation algorithm for influence operations.

ByteDance also announced it terminated four employees who accessed information on journalists from Buzzfeed News and The Financial Times while attempting to uncover leaks of confidential information about the company.

February 2023

The White House orders federal agencies to delete TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices within 30 days. Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission caution that ByteDance could share TikTok user data with China’s repressive government.

March 2023

Lawmakers interrogate TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew during a six-hour congressional hearing where Chew, originally from Singapore, strives to counter claims that TikTok and ByteDance are instruments of the Chinese government.

January 2024

TikTok announced it was restricting a tool that some researchers utilize to analyze viral videos on the platform.

March 2024

A proposal to prohibit TikTok or compel its sale to a U.S. entity gains momentum in Congress. TikTok brings numerous creators to Washington to urge lawmakers to reconsider, while highlighting modifications the company has enacted to safeguard user data. TikTok also irks legislators by sending notifications to users urging them to “speak up now” or risk seeing TikTok banned; users then inundate congressional offices with calls.

The House of Representatives passes the TikTok ban-or-sell legislation.

April 2024

The Senate follows suit, forwarding the bill to President Biden, who enacts it.

May 2024

TikTok and its Chinese parent firm ByteDance initiate legal action against the U.S. federal government to contest a law that would necessitate the divestment of ByteDance’s ownership or face a ban, alleging that the law is unconstitutional.

June 2024

Former President Donald Trump joins TikTok and begins sharing campaign-related content.

July 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris joins TikTok and also starts posting campaign-related material.

Dec. 6, 2024

A federal appeals court panel unanimously upheld a statute that could lead to a prohibition on TikTok, delivering a significant loss to the favored social media platform as it endeavors for survival in the U.S. The panel of judges dismissed the company’s challenge of the legislation, which it claimed violated the First Amendment.

Dec. 27, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump requested the Supreme Court to halt the prospective TikTok prohibition from taking effect until his administration can seek a “political resolution” to the matter.

Jan. 17, 2025

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the federal legislation banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent entity, asserting that the national security threat posed by its affiliations with China outweighs concerns regarding limiting speech via the app. A ban is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 19, 2025.

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