US lawmakers are concerned that TikTok could be used to spy on Americans. On March 23, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified for five hours before the US Congress.
According to CNBC, US officials believe that Chinese law allows the government to have access to personal information of US users through the TikTok application.
But that hasn't affected the popularity of Chinese apps in the US market. According to Insider Intelligence , based on data from Apptopia, ByteDance's Lemon8 app reached 1 million downloads in the US after the TikTok CEO's hearing.
Two other apps, CapCut and TikTok, still hold high positions on the App Store rankings. Meanwhile, PDD Holdings' shopping app Temu ranked second on the App Store in May 2023, and the app of fashion brand Shein also held the 14th position.
US lawmakers fear TikTok could be used to spy on Americans
The US government is concerned about whether companies are protecting US user data. However, TikTok has stressed that US user information is only stored on servers outside of China. These applications collect user information so that they can analyze their preferences. Then use algorithms to display products, information, and services that are relevant to users.
But experts say there are important differences between these apps and TikTok that have kept them relatively under-recognized. Among the most important is the size of their presence in the United States. According to Apptopia, Lemon8 has an estimated 1.8 million monthly active users in the United States. That number is dwarfed by TikTok’s 150 million users.
Lindsay Gorman, senior fellow for emerging technologies at the German Marshall Fund Security Alliance, said an app with 1,000 or even 1 million users in the US does not pose the same cybersecurity threat as an app with 100 million users. Gorman said the US needs to develop a framework to assess the risks of Chinese apps, including their size, type, and ability to spread.
That means CapCut is a lower risk, given its smaller user base and its use for video editing only. For e-commerce apps, the risk of spreading misinformation is not as high as on social media.
TikTok's popularity is said to pose potential risks to US national security
Social media analyst Jasmine Enberg said that Temu, CapCut, and Lemon 8 are consistently among the most downloaded apps in the US, suggesting that demand for apps from companies based in China is still growing, but users often don’t care where the apps they access come from. In March, online shopping app Pinduoduo was suspended from Google’s Play Store over concerns that it contained malware.
Lawmakers have considered proposals that could lead to a TikTok ban amid national security concerns. Some say the most effective long-term solution to curbing the use of Chinese apps may be to create an environment for alternative apps to thrive.
Right now the most prominent bill that could lead to a TikTok ban is the Restriction Act, which would give the US Commerce Secretary the power to recommend bans on technology from certain countries.
However, many people are concerned that the bill could give the executive branch the power to "ban" certain technologies.
Andy Yen, CEO of Proton, which makes encrypted email and VPN services, disagrees with the bill. While Yen believes TikTok should be banned in the US, he worries that the Restriction Act could have unintended consequences if passed. The bill’s vagueness could hurt people who use VPNs to access apps that are banned in the US, Yen said.
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