Issue: TikTok is a powerful tool for manipulating mass sentiment in the hands of a company that actively cooperates with and is subject to the coercive power of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP has the intent and capability to, as well as a history of, manipulating information on a mass scale. The Party’s ability to leverage TikTok directly for its own ends distinguishes the platform from the platform’s US-based social media rivals. TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have no practical means, legal or otherwise, to resist the CCP’s pressure. Only solutions that separate the company from the CCP will protect US national security.
Key Points:ByteDance is a company domiciled in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with its own party committee and is tied to the party-army-state, to which it has a host of obligations and is subject to strong coercive state power.
The CCP has the intent and capability to, as well as a history of, trying to manipulate narratives and information to undermine adversaries and achieve strategic advantages.
TikTok is responsible for and capable of manipulating sentiment on a mass scale. The social media platform—and conceivably other PRC apps, including mobile games and e-commerce platforms—can be used to intentionally manipulate how people feel. This could influence US citizens’ views on topics based on the CCP’s preferences.
TikTok may have acted illegally in its handling of users’ data and conducted other malicious activities, such as tracking journalists. Leaks have highlighted the lack of separation between ByteDance and TikTok at the operational level.
ByteDance actively collaborates with and is closely tied to the CCP’s security apparatus. Both PRC law and the CCP’s extralegal coercion compel cooperation with the government. ByteDance operates under the stringent whole-of-society surveillance and control mechanisms imposed by the Party, which are manifested through laws that enforce cooperation with state intelligence operations.ByteDance has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Public Security. TikTok’s parent company has committed to helping improve content planning to provide specialized support for public security accounts. This effort is designed to strengthen the influence and credibility of public security communications, including by maximizing the reach of public security-related content.[1] ByteDance has been involved in such activities in Xinjiang.[2]
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