Guest article by Gabor Steingart: The world fears a Trojan horse from the Xi party
The new enemy image of the USA looks like Shou Zi Chew, head of the video portal TikTok. What began seven years ago with harmless dance videos by young people in China is now considered a threat to national security. What to do?
The CEO of TikTok – a Singaporean entrepreneur and Harvard Business School graduate – has to justify himself before the US Congress today, Thursday. Serious questions are indeed raised that require a solid answer:
Does this video portal suck the data of young people from the USA and Europe to create character profiles?
Does the Chinese state and thus the communist party have access to these profiles?
Does the algorithm behind TikTok only serve the preferences of young people or does it also try to steer them in a certain political direction?
Five facts you should know about Tik Tok
Why it matters: TikTok is the most successful Chinese company in the west and probably the most advanced company in the world when it comes to artificial intelligence. Here are the five facts you should definitely know about TikTok:
1. TikTok is ahead worldwide
The app is the most popular video platform in the world. With over a billion users worldwide, it has twice as many customers as Twitter.
TikTok is also considered the fastest growing social network in the world. Between 2020 and 2022, the number of users increased by almost 40 percent, while Instagram only grew by 16 percent in the same period.
In addition, there is no other app where users spend as much time as TikTok. The average is 23.5 hours per month. Even WhatsApp only comes to 17.3 hours.
2. Parent company ByteDance is a tech giant
In 2021, ByteDance reported sales of $58 billion and a loss of around $7 million. As of June 2022, ByteDance was valued at $140 billion as the most valuable unlisted company in the world, according to a valuation by CB Insight. 30,000 people work for the group in 28 different countries.
Unlike its main competitors – Instagram and Youtube – ByteDance is not listed on the stock exchange and is a mysterious company due to the lack of disclosure requirements. 60 percent of ByteDance’s shares are owned by global investors – including Sequoia Capital and KKR Japan – 20 percent owned by employees and another 20 percent owned by founder Zhang Yiming, a 39-year-old software engineer and former Microsoft employee Fujian in China. His fortune is estimated at $50 billion.
3. Algorithm is the brain of TikTok system
The TikTok algorithm is a recommendation system that determines which videos you’ll see on the app. It is based on artificial intelligence and understands which content is relevant for a user – even if the user has never commented on it.
TikTok is always testing the taste of users. The algorithm does not wait for the user to specifically search for a video from the front in Ukraine. It just shows up. The user is a test subject, whether he wants it or not.
4. Trojan horse? Fear of manipulation by young voters
The app collects personal data such as real names or e-mail addresses, according to data protection guidelines it can also collect biometric data. There is also location, contact, calendar data and more.
The algorithm itself delivers the most valuable data package. It measures what interests users and what they react to with affection or indignation. This means: TikTok knows the preferences and pain points of society. In Washington, there is great concern that this data will be specifically analyzed in China and misused to manipulate users. Republican Rep. Michael McCaul sees TikTok as the “modern-day Trojan Horse of the Chinese Communist Party.”
5. TikTok split the USA
The House Foreign Affairs Committee has passed a bill that would allow President Joe Biden to ban TikTok in the US. Alternatively, there is currently discussion about buying up the American part of TikTok – i.e. expropriating it so to speak – in order to avoid a ban.
US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo — a Rhode Island Democrat — opposes a TikTok ban: “As much as I hate TikTok… this isn’t America.”
She also thinks tactically, because a TikTok withdrawal could alienate young voters from the Democrats: “You would literally lose every voter under 35 forever.”
To person
Gabor Steingart is one of the best-known journalists in the country. He publishes the newsletter The Pioneer Briefing. The podcast of the same name is Germany’s leading daily podcast for politics and business. Steingart has been working with his editorial team on the ship “The Pioneer One” since May 2020. Before founding Media Pioneer, Steingart was, among other things, Chairman of the Management Board of the Handelsblatt Media Group. You can subscribe to his free newsletter subscribe here.
Conclusion:
The US is playing hard, with the evidence against TikTok being rather shaky so far. It’s about suspected manipulation – and actual protectionism. In America First policy, the motto applies across party lines: Defense is the best attack.
When two argue, a third may suffer: Tesla is the second most popular electric car in China. Still. It can be ruled out that the Chinese government will accept a TikTok ban in the USA without a retaliation. This is another reason why decoupling is just another word for self-harm.
