TikTok ban in the US could have ripple effect around the world, expert warns

The future of Chinese-owned social media site TikTok remains in doubt after a federal appeals court ruled Friday to uphold a law that could lead to its ban in the United States.

A Northeastern University media expert says a ban could have major negative consequences for U.S. companies operating in other countries.

“My overall take is that there are going to be second- and third-order consequences from this we can’t fully anticipate,” says John Wihbey, associate professor of media innovation and technology at Northeastern.

The foremost U.S. social media companies and internet platforms –– namely Alphabet, Meta and X –– all operate in countries around the world, each with their own set of regulations, stipulations and restrictions, explains Wihbey, who is set to publish a book, “Governing Babel: The Debate over Social Media Platforms and Free Speech—and What Comes Next.”

What kind of message is the U.S. sending to those countries by banning TikTok?

“I think this is actually a grand foreign policy story,” Wihbey says. “This is a new phase in that story. I could imagine many countries deciding that they want to put more draconian laws on the book that stipulate all kinds of conditions for American technology companies operating in their country.

“I think that’s going to be really unfortunate,” he adds. “I’m worried about the precedent of it as a cascading norm around the world.”

Friday’s ruling is the latest setback for ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, which has come under major scrutiny in the U.S. over national security concerns it may have close ties with the Chinese government.

TikTok has vehemently denied it shares user data with the government or is spreading Chinese propaganda on its platform.

A panel of three judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the company’s claim that forcing ByteDance to sell the company or be banned is unconstitutional.

The company argued the bill infringes on its free speech rights, but the court did not agree.

“The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” wrote Judge Douglas Ginsburg in the court’s opinion. “Here the Government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.”

The bill—which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in April—requires ByteDance to divest from the company by Jan. 19 or be banned in the U.S. Notably, the bill allows for a 90-day extension on the sale if a deal is already in the process.

Wihbey says the court’s decision was not surprising.

“This was a piece of legislation that was passed by the Congress, signed by the president, and was based on national security,” he says. “The courts are typically going to defer to Congress and the executive on things like this.”

Wihbey believes there are legitimate national security concerns around TikTok. While he isn’t as convinced there’s much evidence the platform is being used to spread Chinese propaganda, he is concerned about the app being used as “a backdoor” to gain access to people’s data.

“Because TikTok is downloaded on millions of phones across the U.S., many of whom I’m sure work in government or business, there could be some legitimate concerns around backdoor data access.”

The company has not run out of options just yet in skirting the Jan. 19 deadline and ultimatum.

ByteDance is expected to appeal the court’s decision and ask for the court’s full list of judges to review the panel’s ruling. Ultimately, the company will likely ask the Supreme Court to take on the case before the deadline.

It also may have an unlikely ally in the fight—President-elect Donald Trump, who started efforts to ban TikTok during his first term but has since said he would work to “save TikTok” and prevent its ban.

For TikTok users concerned about the app’s future, Wihbey suggests they “sit tight” to see if the Supreme Court picks up the case.

“It’s a bit of a binary in a way –– either this will just muddle along through appeals and unclear executive decision-making for a while or something could happen that is quite sudden,” he says.

This story is republished courtesy of Northeastern Global News news.northeastern.edu.