Expert says TikTok national security threat is real

Watch Professor Shaomin Li, Ph.D. at the Digital Desk in the video player.

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The clock is ticking on TikTok.

Are you on TikTok? If you are, you make up one of the about 170 million users on the app in the United States.

Now, the big question, is how long will you be on the app?

Last week, President Joe Biden signed a law that would ban TikTok unless it is sold by its parent company in nine months, with a three month extension possible if a sale is in progress.

Professor Shaomin Li, Ph.D., was LIVE at the Digital Desk to discuss the current state of TikTok in the U.S. and the real national security concern. Watch the full conversation in the video player on this page.

Li is a professor of international business, Eminent Scholar and chair of the Department of Management at Old Dominion University.

Here’s a look at what’s happened this spring.

In March, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill with bipartisan support that would have forced TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest the app within six months, citing security concerns of the Chinese-based owner.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Local ODU expert on possible TikTok ban

The updated TikTok bill last week was part of a larger aid package that passed. The package included billions of dollars in funding for Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific countries, including aid to Taiwan.

It’s different than the previous iteration of the bill. It allows more time for the Chinese-owned company to be sold.

What a TikTok ban in the US could mean for you

After Biden signed the bill, TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew made a statement on the app.

“This unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban, and we will challenge it in court,” Chew said. “We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail. The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation.”

The statement is misleading, said Li. He explained why, emphasizing it goes back to understanding what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is and how the CCP manages China. Watch the full clip below.

“They have to have total control, dictatorship in their own country,” Li said. “That makes the party, the Communist Party actually owns China, which is an entirely new concept to Americans. We know there is a line between state and society, but there is no such line.”

Li said the party owns the government, the people and the firms. In that way, whether companies have a party member on their board or not, it does not mean the party does not have influence.

“The party runs the whole country like a company,” said Li.

He calls it “China Incorporated (Inc.)”

Li discussed the development of “China Inc.” and the complex nature of the relationship between the party and the citizens in a recent article here.

“ByteDance, and therefore TikTok, they follow the party’s order,” said Li. “Not only for the survival of their own business, profitability for their own business, but also for the survival and safety for themselves, their staff.”

As an example of China’s power, Li discussed a recent takedown of apps in the country.

In mid-April, Apple complied with orders from Chinese authorities to remove apps from the App Store in China, citing national security concerns. Meta’s WhatsApp and Threads were taken down.

According to the Associated Press, Apple said in a statement, “We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree.”

Now, China itself bans TikTok. Chinese users have an app called “Douyin” which follows strict censorship rules. Other blocked sites in China include: YouTube, Facebook, Google, Wikipedia, Instagram, Twitch, Tumblr and Pinterest.

TikTok has also shown power in the United States.

In March, they encouraged users to call legislators to oppose a bill that could lead to the ban of the app and “stop a TikTok shutdown.” The effort resulted in an overwhelming number of calls to Congress, according to the New York Times. At the time, influencers and small businesses whose work depended on the app also took steps to speak with lawmakers.

The current bill would also bar the company from controlling the algorithm, the process that gives users certain videos.

“First, we have to realize that algorithm that ByteDance developed is very aggressive, intrusive, addictive, it’s like drugs,” said Li. “That’s why many youth are just glued to TikTok.”

Li said the algorithm is something the company or the Chinese-government would never sell.

Alternatives do exist for the platform, said Li, offering examples such as YouTube shorts, which he said is growing rapidly.

“If I were a vendor I would download my content, be safe, have alternative, and gradually change because long-term I don’t see a future for TikTok,” said Li.

For now, TikTok is still up and running.

According to AP, TikTok has promised to sue. The ACLU has also released a statement concerning the legislation, calling it an attempt to ban TikTok and restrict free speech online.

Learn more in the full Digital Desk stream in the video player on this page.

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