“A nation that best integrates high-performance computing into its economy is likely to become the leading intellectual, economic, and technological power of the coming century.”
In May 1989, then-Senator Al Gore warned that technology must be the backbone of American leadership. He was right. For decades, Washington’s military-industrial complex built a crucial industry with subsidies — from semiconductors to space exploration — to assert dominance in the Cold War. After the fall of the Iron Curtain and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, free markets and the commercialization of the internet spread America’s global influence. The economic and cultural reach of the United States has also traveled through social networks, which opened channels for free expression but also served as instruments aligned with national geostrategic goals. That dominance seemed unchallengeable until the rise of TikTok.
Prohibition in Sight
The past March, the U.S. House of Representatives advanced a bill that would push for a ban on the popular video platform. The text requires its owner, the Chinese tech giant ByteDance, to divest its U.S. interests within 180 days. If the forced sale does not occur, the president would have the authority to block TikTok in national app stores, effectively ending the app’s presence in the country.
Although still awaiting Senate approval, the bill enjoys broad bipartisan support, a rarity in Washington. The unusual cross-party alignment has a simple motive: China. Both parties argue that under ByteDance, TikTok acts as a Trojan horse that gathers data on American citizens and introduces Beijing’s narratives into users’ minds. They contend that this security threat would vanish if the app were controlled by Silicon Valley, the core of the domestic tech industry.
Reasons for Concern
There are genuine concerns. Between 1993 and 2021, the Chinese Communist Party issued three laws compelling cooperation with its intelligence services, extending to ByteDance in Beijing. TikTok’s chief executive has said that American data has long been stored in Virginia and Singapore, ostensibly outside Chinese reach. Yet investigative reports have raised questions about data storage practices and access. Some outlets reported that financial data on major stars resided on servers in China, and others claimed that Beijing had gained access to American data.
There have been other incidents as well. In early 2023, the Department of Justice opened an inquiry after reports that ByteDance employees used platform data to surveil two journalists. Later, a former employee charged that Beijing used a backdoor to spy on Hong Kong democracy protesters in 2018. Officials warned that Beijing could have broad access to data stored elsewhere, including in the United States.
Nevertheless, U.S. intelligence agencies have not produced public evidence that the Chinese Communist Party used TikTok to spy on U.S. officials or benefited from data collection. “Influence operations tend to be overrated,” noted a senior adviser at a leading Washington think tank. Meanwhile, the president has met with TikTok creators and launched campaign accounts to use the platform for outreach and messaging.
American Privacy, or Political Gain?
Proponents of a ban argue that TikTok holds too much sensitive data that could fall under Beijing’s control. Yet the same argument is often raised for prominent U.S. platforms that helped monetize digital privacy through a different lens — sometimes criticized as surveillance capitalism. Privacy advocates call for strong protections, while many see data access as a national asset. The debate centers on whether the primary risk lies in foreign access to data or in the broader structure of data-driven power across all large platforms.
Historically, the focus has often been on national security rather than privacy in isolation. Edward Snowden exposed that U.S. intelligence agencies have direct access to a wide range of global digital infrastructure, with legal frameworks still permitting broad surveillance. The use of data by agencies across the government continues to be a point of contention, raising questions about the balance between security and civil liberties.
There is little doubt that private surveillance and data aggregation extend well beyond any single platform, and policy discussions increasingly frame the issue as a national-interest question rather than a mere privacy concern. Data brokers, funded by public dollars, collect vast swaths of personal information, which can span religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and lifestyle choices. The conversation is moving toward a framework that safeguards privacy while addressing strategic needs.
Geopolitical Stakes
The likely TikTok ban aligns with broader economic and geopolitical interests. For decades, the idea of open markets aided American tech giants in global expansion. In many parts of the world, the scale of Apple, Google, and Amazon suppressed local competition, creating a lucrative dependency for many governments. China, by contrast, built a robust domestic tech ecosystem capable of competing with Silicon Valley, including a large hardware and software sector supported by protective policies.
TikTok is seen as a flagship example of a strategy that some fear could erode American tech dominance. The platform has grown to over 1.5 billion users worldwide, with a sizeable share in the United States. As its user base expands, concerns about the competitive landscape intensify. China’s advances in critical technology fields underscore a broader dynamic: a shift in the global balance of power in favor of Beijing in certain sectors. China also houses substantial reserves of minerals essential for modern electronics, adding to the strategic dimension of the technology race.
Washington’s policy response reflects a broader recalibration: a pivot toward restricting access to foreign technology to protect domestic leadership. The rationale behind measures such as restricting advanced chip exports or blocking certain foreign tech firms is to preserve a competitive edge. The old liberal order that helped propel American tech growth now competes with a China that has learned to play the same game — by setting rules and challenging existing hegemony. Whether the venture will succeed remains uncertain.
In the end, TikTok stands at the intersection of economics, security, and global influence. The ongoing debate mirrors a larger question about who writes the rules of the digital era and how power is wielded across borders. The outcome will almost certainly shape the trajectory of global tech leadership for years to come.