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Is TikTok the biggest media company in America?
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“Digital Fentanyl” was the damning phrase used by Congressman Mike Gallagher earlier this month as he described TikToks, pandemic growth and infiltration of US media. But is TikTok and therefore, China effectively now the Biggest media company in the United States?
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Whats the news?
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The Chinese-owned video-sharing app, TikTok, has faced increasing scrutiny and calls for action in the United States in recent months. Republican congressman Mike Gallagher has introduced legislation to ban the app in the country, calling it “digital fentanyl” that is “addictive and destructive” and ultimately “goes back to the Chinese Communist party”. Gallagher’s legislation has the backing of several Democrats, as well as Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee. However, Gallagher has said that the sale of TikTok to an American company would be an acceptable outcome, calling it a “workable solution”.
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The legislative action in Washington regarding TikTok has been bipartisan, with the US Senate unanimously approving a bill last month that bars federal employees from using the app on government devices. In addition, the bipartisan spending bill to fund the US government included a provision to ban TikTok on all federally managed devices. Over a dozen states, including Maryland, Texas, and Iowa, have already taken action to prevent their employees from installing TikTok on government devices.
The scrutiny of TikTok in the US has stemmed from concerns over national security and the potential for the Chinese Communist Party to exercise control over the app. TikTok has denied these allegations, stating that there is “zero truth” to Gallagher’s comments and that the company welcomes the opportunity to brief members of Congress on its “comprehensive plan to address national security concerns”. However, FBI director Chris Wray has said that TikTok could be used to facilitate espionage and that Beijing has the ability to control the app’s algorithm in ways that would facilitate “influence operations” in the US.
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Next Steps
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The Biden administration is currently conducting a security review of TikTok under the inter-agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (Cfius). Several leading Republicans, including Marco Rubio, have criticized the pace of the review. Gallagher has said that he wants to work with the Biden administration on his proposals, stating that he does not believe it should be a partisan issue and pointing to the Senate vote to ban TikTok on government devices as evidence.
The scrutiny of TikTok and other Chinese-owned tech companies has also been fuelled by a broader push in the US for supply chain security and decoupling from China. Kevin McCarthy, the top House Republican who is hoping to be elected Speaker of the House this week, has said that he will name Gallagher to lead a new “China select committee” to advocate for a tougher approach towards Beijing. Gallagher, a former Marine counter-intelligence officer who has become a leading China hawk on Capitol Hill since being elected to Congress in 2016, has said that the committee will focus on “the full range of China challenges”.
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Summary
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While we certainly don’t agree with the statement “Digital Fentanyl” it does have interesting meaning. As we work with TikTok day in and day out, exploring its functions – Expanding our own creativity and delivering our clients more sales. Is it a problem that TikTok is growing so quickly, or is just because its not a US owned product in the first place?
Like many other social media apps in the past, if you don’t innovate then you will get lost at some point. Institutions such as Facebook continue to see a decline in user minutes and Instagram have had to implement TikTok features just to compete.
We think its healthy competition, it provides new opportunities and if challenged, pushes the US owned media companies to adapt and grow too.
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