TikTok’s Transparency Problem

A few months ago on Your Undivided Attention, we released
a Spotlight episode on TikTok's national security risks. Since
then, we've learned more about the dangers of the China-owned
company: We've seen evidence of TikTok spying on US journalists,
and proof of hidden state media accounts to influence the US
elections. We’ve seen Congress ban TikTok on most government
issued devices, and more than half of US states have done the
same, along with dozens of US universities who are banning TikTok
access from university wifi networks. More people in Western
governments and media are saying that they used to believe
that TikTok was an overblown threat. As we've seen more evidence
of  national security risks play out, there’s even talk of
banning TikTok itself in certain countries. But is that the best
solution? If we opt for a ban, how do we, as open societies,
fight accusations of authoritarianism? 


On this episode of Your Undivided Attention, we're going
to do a deep dive into these questions with Marc Faddoul. He's
the co-director of Tracking Exposed, a nonprofit investigating
the influence of social media algorithms in our lives. His work
has shown how TikTok tweaks its algorithm to maximize partisan
engagement in specific national elections, and how it bans
international news in countries like Russia that are fighting
propaganda battles inside their own borders. In other words, we
don't all get the same TikTok because there are different
geopolitical interests that might guide which TikTok you see.
That is a kind of soft power that TikTok operates on a global
scale, and it doesn’t get talked about often enough.

We hope this episode leaves you with a lot to think about in
terms of what the risks of TikTok are, how it's operating
geopolitically, and what we can do about it.

RECOMMENDED MEDIA

Tracking Exposed Special Report: TikTok Content Restriction in
Russia
How has the Russian invasion of Ukraine affected the content that
TikTok users see in Russia? [Part 1 of Tracking Exposed
series]

Tracking Exposed Special Report: Content Restrictions on TikTok
in Russia Following the Ukrainian War
How are TikTok’s policy decisions affecting pro-war and anti-war
content in Russia? [Part 2 of Tracking Exposed series]


Tracking Exposed Special Report: French Elections 2022
The visibility of French candidates on TikTok and YouTube search
engines


The Democratic Surround by Fred Turner
A dazzling cultural history that demonstrates how American
intellectuals, artists, and designers from the 1930s-1960s
imagined new kinds of collective events that were intended to
promote a powerful experience of American democracy in action



RECLOMMENDED YUA EPISODES


When Media Was for You and Me with Fred Turner


Addressing the TikTok Threat


A Fresh Take on Tech in China with Rui Ma and Duncan Clark

Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for
Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_