It almost goes without saying, but TikTok is an app where viewers can watch a lot of videos. The creation of a Chinese technology company called ByteDance, TikTok may put sensitive user data like location information into the hands of the Chinese government. In the United States, looming bans against TikTok have made headlines. Beyond that, in North America, Europe, and Asia, several countries have implemented some restrictions on the app. These restrictions mostly have to do with privacy and cybersecurity concerns, which become more intense when one considers that ByteDance operates under Chinese government oversight.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (better known as NATO) has banned staff from using TikTok on its organization’s phones, as have national governments in countries across the globe. The culmination of dozens of national security and data privacy hearings on the congressional floor saw U.S. lawmakers meeting these past few weeks to discuss TikTok. A few countries have already banned TikTok completely: Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, and Somalia. In the United States, Montana is the first state to ban the app on personal devices, although this restriction is facing legal challenges. The question for Americans is whether other states will follow.
