This excellent piece of reporting by Buzzfeed News has not received any attention in the mainstream media, but it is incredibly important. It completely shatters the myth that the parent company of TikTok, namely ByteDance, does not have access to the incredible volume of data that the service generates in the United States. That means the Chinese government has access to the data because it has reimposed control over Chinese companies that were once seen as private sector and therefore had a measure of independence.
The key quote from recorded internal TikTok meetings is this one: “Everything is seen in China.” It turns out that U.S.-based employees don’t know how to access the flows of data.
This is grounds for the U.S. government to immediately halt TikTok’s operations in the United States. Full stop. It is a tool of surveillance. American companies would strive to fill the vacuum left by blocking TikTok. Dance-crazed teenagers would suffer only brief disruptions in their addictions. And America’s national security would be enhanced.
