The war on TikTok — or more specifically, the war on China’s ownership of TikTok — was brought to the halls of the Tennessee State Capitol this year.
The debate over data protection is an ongoing one that has resulted in multiple big tech casualties. In 2018, Facebook was hit with a class-action lawsuit over the misuse of 71 million people’s personal data. In 2022, Google paid a $391.5 million settlement over charges that it misled users about location tracking data. But recent actions over TikTok — which, unlike Facebook and Google, is a Chinese-owned company — have taken a slightly different tone.
The internet has become a nearly inescapable facet of daily life. Eighty-five percent of Americans go online daily, and nearly a third of Americans say they use the internet “constantly.” People’s lives are becoming more deeply intertwined with the internet than ever before, and as this happens, the amount of information that can be collected and used by corporations and governments is greatly increasing.
User data falls into four main categories: basic data, interaction data, behavioral data and attitudinal data. Each of these is an umbrella term covering everything from a person’s email and phone number, to what they decide to click on versus what they scroll past, to how much they pay attention to certain trends and what motivates them to dive deeper and click through a website.
This information can be sold to other companies, fed to algorithms or used to predict market trends, and it allows companies to target consumers with products that will appeal to them. Of course companies aren’t the only entities purchasing and using data — governments do it too. The U.S. government, through subpoenas and even purchases, collects and utilizes consumer data for law enforcement and various other purposes.
“The biggest secret in the military, I can reveal that secret,” said Sen. Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) while presenting Senate Bill 834 on the Senate floor back in March. “The biggest secret is, candidly, how we obtain secrets.”
The bill, which was ultimately signed by Gov. Bill Lee and put into effect on April 13, bans access on public college campuses to apps that are based in China. Effectively, this means banning two apps for anyone using a public college’s Wi-Fi: TikTok and WeChat. The bill passed in both chambers with bipartisan support, but not without Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) pointing out in the House that, considering all the products the U.S. depends on China for — including the iPhones being used by most members of the legislature — banning one app from college campuses seemed inconsequential.
The concern being leveled by lawmakers is that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, because it is based in China, might give sensitive user data to the Chinese government. Federal legislation to allow for a nationwide ban of TikTok began making its way through Congress in early March, and the Biden administration even went so far as to say that unless TikTok is sold to a non-Chinese company, it will be banned.
Of course, much of the rhetoric surrounding TikTok has ranged from dog whistles to downright xenophobia, as lawmakers are primarily focused on the fact that TikTok is a Chinese company. But all the things U.S. officials seem worried about happening — the acquisition of data, the lack of regulation and the spread of disinformation — are practices that U.S. companies have directly engaged in.
Most people would likely agree that some sort of internet regulation is a good thing — particularly regulation regarding how data is shared and used. As algorithms continue to develop, they are becoming more effective at pushing people toward extremes. In some cases, such as the Myanmar genocide largely perpetuated through a flooding of Facebook with hatred, lack of regulation can even lead to horrible and deadly circumstances. But with data seeming to flow as freely as it does between corporations and governments, some have questioned whether a TikTok ban would actually even make a positive difference.
While the TikTok ban made headlines, other Tennessee bills, such as House Bill 1181, quietly took actual steps toward introducing some guidelines for how data can be collected and used. But such legislation gets nowhere near the amount of attention or care that legislation aimed at TikTok does, and due to the chaotic, unorganized nature of data protection laws across the country, enforcement is a challenge.
From Nextdoor drama and TikTok bans to broadband access and beyond, here’s a look at Middle Tennessee’s internet footprint
