Trump’s TikTok Ban Criticized: New Spy Revelations from China Highlight the Flaws

This weekend’s news about China successfully hacking US wireless telecom networks undetected for months highlights the misguided stance of President-elect Donald Trump regarding the 2024 law set to take effect on Jan. 19. This law effectively bans the social media app TikTok unless its parent company ByteDance sells it to non-Chinese owners.

Trump has petitioned the Supreme Court to postpone the law’s implementation so he can take further action against it following his swearing-in on Jan. 20. If the justices decline, perhaps his lawyers will find another avenue to obstruct the ban.

However, he is mistaken, regardless of how many billions of views Trump-related content has received on the app — because Beijing cannot be trusted.

The telecom hacking incident illustrates what China is willing to do, fully aware that its actions will eventually be exposed. They operate under the belief that any response from the US will be ineffective.

TikTok represents a tool of soft power, as Americans voluntarily provide personal data to Beijing — with no hacking necessary.

While ByteDance repeatedly asserts that its Chinese employees cannot access US user data, this claim has already been disproven; employees have used such data for tracking journalists.

Moreover, with a political commissar holding one of TikTok’s board seats, it is evident that all user data is available for scrutiny by the Chinese Communist Party.

ByteDance also openly collaborates with China’s military and intelligence services, running an AI academy specifically for military objectives.

Even more concerning, this intelligence operation works both ways.

Beijing is not only collecting data on us; it is also leveraging a corporate tool to subtly influence Americans through TikTok’s highly addictive algorithm.

Trump, being the most famous individual globally, has no need for TikTok — he can easily find other platforms.

Congress enacted the TikTok ban with widespread bipartisan support; this measure is crucially necessary.

Thus, for the sake of the nation, Trump must reconsider his favorable stance towards TikTok and align with those who recognize the evident threats posed by the app and the government behind it.