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A TikTok ban hangs in the balance once again

A young man holding a smartphone casts a shadow as he walks past an advertisement for social media company TikTok in Berlin, Germany.
A young man holding a smartphone casts a shadow as he walks past an advertisement for social media company TikTok in Berlin, Germany.

Efforts to ban the popular social media app TikTok in the U.S. are back underway.

TikTokisn’t new to scrutiny. Its relationship with China-based parent company ByteDance has spurred national security concerns since the Trump administration.

Manystateshave banned the app from government devices. And stateuniversitieshave banned its use on campus internet networks. In December, the app was banned from federal government devices as a provision of theomnibus spending bill

There are ongoing negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States on how tokeep TikTok in the U.S.But somelegislatorsare still trying to ban ByteDance from doing business in the country entirely.

How is this different from former President Donald Trump’s efforts in 2020? Is there a way to keep TikTok in the U.S. while addressing national security concerns?

Copyright 2023 WAMU 88.5

Jorgelina Manna-Rea