As one of his many campaign promises, Trump vowed to reverse Biden’s ban on TikTok, which would otherwise go into effect on January 19th. This is a complete reversal of Trump’s initial stance on TikTok, and following through on this promise after returning to the White House would absolutely be a mistake. While many social media platforms have negative societal impacts, this app is uniquely problematic. A ban is needed for two reasons. First, the Chinese government directly receives revenue from data stolen by TikTok. Second, the app’s content is tailored for societal harm. As I’ll explain, TikTok functions as a cyberweapon advancing the interests of the Chinese Communist Party.
It’s Spyware
Let’s start with the first issue — China’s revenue from data theft. If you oppose a ban on TikTok in the current year, you probably don’t care if it steals your data. You’ve likely already heard the indisputable evidence of its disregard for online privacy, but agree with at least one of the following counterarguments: “all tech companies steal my data,” or “my data doesn’t matter.” Both of these defenses overlook a problem exclusive to TikTok — the data benefits the Chinese government. If this sounds alarmist, consider why TikTok has been banned for government personnel in the US, UK, Canada, France, Belgium, Denmark, and several other Western nations over security concerns.
As TikTok apologists often point out, it’s true that your data is stolen by American social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, and so on. However, none of these companies are legally required to share potentially sensitive user data with a regime that’s overtly hostile to Western interests. TikTok’s connection to the Chinese government is virtually undeniable — according to Forbes, “In China, there is little question that private companies are closely linked and aligned with the wishes of its governing party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” There’s a reason why TikTok, but not its US-based counterparts, was deemed a threat by the countries referenced earlier.
TikTok functions as a cyberweapon advancing the interests of the Chinese Communist Party.
This is where many dismiss pushes to ban TikTok, as nothing on their phone seems relevant to national security. If you believe that your data doesn’t matter, you’re wrong. While the information on your phone likely couldn’t directly compromise national security, it’s still relevant to this issue because non-sensitive data can be — and is — sold to advertisers. Other companies do this, but TikTok’s origins in China make it distinctly unacceptable compared to the rest of big tech. Let’s overview how the Chinese government uses its budget, which is supplemented by revenue from TikTok.
Funding the CCP
Unpacking the extensive human rights violations within the CCP’s domestic policies is beyond the scope of this article. On the international stage, they work with nearly every regime that resents the US and interferes with our foreign policy initiatives. They buy 90% of Iran’s exported oil, enabling its terrorist proxies to initiate the ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon. They’ve schemed around sanctions to greatly strengthen Russia’s invasion of Ukraine through shipments of raw materials, excavating equipment, and vehicles for transporting troops. They back the Tatmadaw junta in Myanmar, which aims to exterminate the Rohingya Muslims.
Supporting the wrong side of three active wars only marks the beginning of issues stemming from China’s foreign policy. They’ve singlehandedly propped up North Korea for decades (until very recently, when Moscow increased its support). They produce and smuggle 97% of the ingredients for fentanyl that reaches the US, which kills 100,000 Americans each year, and should arguably count as an act of war. They sell weapons to Venezuela, which has spent the past decade using death squads and state-backed gangs (“colectivos”) to terrorize political opposition. They’ve flirted with building military bases in Cuba, which could worsen tensions with the US and bolster the authoritarian Cuban government. Finally, China solidifies its commitment to challenging the West through warm relations with Serbia, one the most anti-Western nations in Europe.
Medical Brainrot
This brings us to the next issue with TikTok that necessitates a ban: its content is unmatched for societal harm. The app’s psychological effects are the first sign of its dangerous influence. The rise of TikTok marked a distinct change in dialogue about how social media impacts our generation’s attention span. Before TikTok, it was far less common to hear stories about people wasting hour after hour mindlessly scrolling with no sense of time. We decided that memes no longer give a strong enough dopamine hit as text on a static image. Now the internet is overrun with split-screen subway surfer gameplay, “remixes” that just speed up songs that apparently wouldn’t be stimulating enough in their original form, and that stupid robot voice that reads captions for you. There’s a reason the genre is so widely known as brainrot.
Proof that TikTok wrecks the attention span of its users goes beyond these anecdotes — numerous studies have supported the same conclusion. TikTok captures your attention so quickly and effectively that you always need to swipe one more time before you’re ready for a break. How can you put your phone down and get work done when watching one more video might give you just enough dopamine to be satisfied (it won’t)? The app is designed to be unfulfilling and addictive so you scroll as long as possible before feeling like you’ve reached a worthwhile stopping point.
The substance of TikTok’s content is no less problematic than its presentation. Because productivity threatens to reduce time wasted on the app, the algorithm glorifies lifestyles that erode the intellectual ambitions of users, rather than those that contribute to society. Examples include celebrities without talent and activist grifters who misrepresent the issues they engage with. Similarly, TikTok also promotes mental illness by gaslighting healthy people into questioning their wellbeing. This dystopian phenomenon first became apparent by doctors reporting grievances with the “undiagnosed” trend, followed by the “TikTok tics” — and an imitation-hysteria where children expressed tics as placebo-induced tourettes symptoms.
TikTok’s origins in China make it distinctly unacceptable compared to the rest of big tech.
Political Brainrot
Along with contributing to the spread of mental illness in a literal sense, TikTok’s influence on political polarization is uniquely atrocious. Social media inherently favors provocative content, as it’s more likely to prompt reactions that algorithms look for. Additionally, trends of worsening polarization predate TikTok. Still, TikTok is the single most effective amplifier for beliefs unworthy of the public’s attention. More than any other app, it platforms the most unhinged people on both sides of the political spectrum. It was indispensable for a 20-year-old letter by Osama Bin Laden going viral, which any principled left-winger would condemn. It was indispensable for the spread of incel content and figures like Andrew Tate, which any principled right-winger would condemn.
The unprecedented overrepresentation of outrageous perspectives has a cancerous impact on political discourse and drives people into increasingly extreme circles. These don’t just worsen polarization by radicalizing those who agree with the sentiments, but by fueling a backlash for the other side. LibsOfTikTok wouldn’t have become so influential without the fringe progressive content on TikTok itself. This app reinforces both sides’ perception that the other has lost its mind, and the world would be better without it.
TikTok’s proponents often argue that this political content should be protected for freedom of speech. This claim is unpersuasive for two reasons. First, any views expressed on TikTok can be shared on other platforms, which use less harmful algorithms and have no ties to the Chinese government. Second, TikTok is not an outlet for true free speech — unlike Telegram, its content is regulated according to the company’s guidelines.
It’s All Intentional
The most sinister part of all of this is the likelihood that it results from deliberate manipulation of TikTok’s algorithm. I’m sure that some will roll their eyes at the suggestion that China intentionally undermines Western society by using TikTok for psychological warfare. Such an accusation sounds flatly conspiratorial… until you consider that China banned its own citizens from using the version of the app that the rest of the world has access to.
Is TikTok President Xi’s secret weapon to take over the world? No. Well… not entirely.
This ban cannot be explained as an effort to keep sensitive data and advertiser money away from the Chinese government. Accordingly, it’s hard to overstate the implied motivation for China to ban the form of TikTok that we’re familiar with. The app’s purpose is to make the generation using it as dysfunctional as possible. This is why TikTok’s equivalent in China promotes relatively harmless content — viral trends highlight lifehacks and how to solve math problems. The CCP recognized the danger of spreading political extremism and mental illness while degrading attention spans and ambition. By extension, it saw an opportunity to become more competitive by inflicting these effects onto the West while shielding its own population from them. The result, as reported by Business Insider, is that kids in the US were polled as wanting to become “influencers,” while kids in China wanted to be “astronauts.”
How Serious is This?
Is TikTok President Xi’s secret weapon to take over the world? No. Well… not entirely. TikTok is supplemental for China’s other avenues of international aggression, and isn’t even in the top 3 most concerning. Higher priorities should be initiatives like the Belt And Road, Thousand Talents Program, and Military-Civil Fusion. Still, it’s flatly absurd that anyone is still discussing whether to ban TikTok — by now, the scandal should be about how this obvious necessity could have possibly taken so long. The only rational explanations for these delays are unworkable polarization and corporate influence. All we can do now is wait and hope that Trump makes the right call for his second term. In the meantime, if you have this cyberweapon on your phone, delete it.
Alex Lee ‘25 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He is a staff writer and can be reached at alex.b.lee@wustl.edu.