From Viral Sensation to Security Scrutiny: TikTok’s Unexpected Transformation

As legislation that may potentially outlaw TikTok in the United States is set to take effect, we consider the ascent of the video-sharing social media application.

Origins

In 2016, ByteDance, based in Beijing, introduced Douyin, a platform for sharing brief videos, specifically in the Chinese market.

The subsequent year, ByteDance launched TikTok for the international audience, just before acquiring the “lip-synching” platform Musical.ly and integrating it into TikTok.

The social media network gained immense popularity, with its algorithm providing users with endless arrays of short, looping, and often entertaining clips.

Surge during Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic declared in 2020, TikTok’s popularity experienced a dramatic increase, as individuals facing lockdowns turned to the web for amusement and engagement.

As a result, regulators globally started scrutinizing TikTok’s impact and captivating nature.

TikTok became one of the most downloaded applications worldwide, as officials became increasingly concerned about the possibility of the Chinese government exerting influence over ByteDance or accessing user data.

India prohibited TikTok in July 2020 amid rising tensions with China.

Trump’s Actions

While Donald Trump held the presidency in 2020, he enacted executive orders intending to prohibit TikTok in the United States.

Trump alleged without evidence that TikTok was misappropriating data from US users for Beijing’s advantage and censoring content under the guidance of Chinese authorities.

This decision was taken as his administration experienced a conflict with Beijing on numerous fronts.

In a failed reelection attempt in 2020, the Republican continued to promote an anti-China narrative.

Due to legal obstacles and Trump’s defeat to Joe Biden in that year’s presidential contest, the executive orders did not come into effect.

Reaching Billion Users

As of September 2021, TikTok declared it had reached one billion monthly active users globally.

However, apprehensions arose regarding potential addiction, propaganda, and surveillance risks faced by TikTok users.

In 2022, BuzzFeed disclosed that ByteDance employees in China had accessed the private information of TikTok users.

To alleviate privacy concerns, ByteDance opted to store user data on servers located in the United States, managed by Oracle.

Despite this effort, skepticism remained, leading to TikTok being banned from devices utilized by the US military.

Numerous other government bodies and educational institutions followed suit, prohibiting their members from utilizing TikTok.

In March 2023, TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew faced intense questioning from US Congressional representatives during a six-hour inquiry.

Mandatory Sale or Ban

In 2024, TikTok found itself under scrutiny again in the United States when President Joe Biden enabled legislation mandating TikTok’s ban should ByteDance fail to divest the application to a non-adversarial entity pertaining to national security.

Washington’s expressed objective was to mitigate the risks of Beijing potentially spying on or influencing TikTok users, especially the app’s 170 million US users.

TikTok remains firm in its assertion that it has never shared user information with the Chinese government nor followed orders from them within the social network.

ByteDance initiated a lawsuit against the US government, claiming the law infringes upon free speech rights.

A conclusive ruling in this matter was rendered by the US Supreme Court on Friday, upholding a law slated to take effect on January 19.

In a significant defeat for TikTok, the court decided that the legislation does not contravene free speech rights and that the US government substantiated legitimate national security anxieties regarding a Chinese company controlling the application.

The incoming President Trump, returning to office on Monday, has indicated he might take action to support TikTok.

Nevertheless, the firm has indicated that unless the departing Biden administration provides “definitive” guarantees against the law’s enactment, it would be compelled to “go dark.”

© 2025 AFP