TAIPEI (TVBS News) — TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms in recent years, and studies indicate the U.S. has the largest TikTok audience, with around 170 million users. However, this poses a risk to the country's national security, as U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Commissioner Jacob Helberg pointed out.
Speaking with TVBS commentator Wenchi Yu, Helberg outlined the three main concerns for policymakers in the U.S. regarding TikTok's use. "The first and perhaps the most minor is a trade reciprocity concern. China doesn't allow any American content platform in China. It banned most American content platforms in the early 2010s," Helberg said.
He noted that the second concern is mainly due to propaganda, while data security and surveillance in monitoring a user's activities on other applications is also a significant worry. When asked about a better way of doing business, fair competition, and stopping more U.S. investment from flowing to China, the national security expert admitted that asking companies to move out overnight wouldn't be realistic.
"The reality is, China has a lot of infrastructure that's very sticky and hard to replicate elsewhere in a short amount of time." Helberg believes a holistic recalibration is needed in the U.S.-China trade relationship, starting with "tariffs, software restrictions, and capital flow restrictions."