Tiktok Ban • A Platform for Video Sharing at the US National Security Debate Centre

Tik-Tok: From the source to the fire with MUSICAL.LY

TikTok is a social network for sharing short videos, first launched in autumn 2017 by Chinese companyByteDance Ltd.as an international version of the platformDouyin, which in just one year since its birth had reached 100 million users in China.

As part of this overseas expansion, on 9 November 2017,ByteDanceHe's acquired, for a figure close to a billion dollars,Musical.lyInc., startup founded in 2014 in Shanghai and producer of the same name application, which was also gaining considerable success among young Americans and Europeans [1][21).

This transaction was followed by a merger between the two platforms with the incorporation ofMusical.lywithin TikTok, resulting in the removal of the first product market and automatic transfer of accounts into the new and renewed app [31).

From this moment on, TikTok started its own rise to become a leader in the social media world, counting more than 1.5 billion active users today. This path has also led to the focus of the debate on theprivacyand on the national security of the United States.

Tiktok BAN □ FIRST PRESIDENCY TRUMP

The first frictions between the Chinese giant and the Washington authorities emerged in February 2019 when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a federal agency with a role of consumer protection and prevention of anti-competitive commercial practices [4], announced that he had reached an agreement with ByteDance in relation to the allegations of illicitly collecting data of minors [51).

For the FTC TikTok would have violated theChildren • Online Privacy Protection Act(COPPA), which provides for parental consent to collect personal information from anyone under 13 years of age [61).

The platform, populated in large part by under-13, required, in fact, to register, an email address, a telephone number, name and surname. In addition, users were required to publish a short biography and to set a profile photo, visible to anyone even for private accounts. Among the alleged violations of COPPA also included those concerning the messaging system, which allowed adults to contact directly the young users, as well as the functionality that between 2014 and 2016 allowed to view other users within a radius of 50 miles.

In the complaint, FTC claimed that TikTok was aware of the illegality of information and its obtaining, as was apparent from thousands of parental reports, but had not complied with privacy legislation [71).

The understanding provided for the interruption of the collection of sensitive information of minors, the elimination of those already obtained and the introduction of a new age verification system, in addition to the payment of a penalty of $ 5.7 million, the highest civil sanction ever imposed by the FTC for a case of privacy of minors.

The distrust of the American administration towards ByteDance and its flagship product has grown over time.think tank Peterson Institute for International EconomicsHe described TikTok as a threat to national security, in terms of the risks to military personnel in particular. The app would, in fact, have been able to collect and transmit sensitive data . ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................China Internet Security LawHe could not have refused to share them with the Beijing government [81).

To these concerns, President Trump's personal moods were added to the mobilizations on the social network that, in June 2020, would have failed an electoral meeting in Tulsa, booking tickets that were not used [91).

These elements represented the prelude to Washington's action, which was reflected in a series ofexecutive orders(EO) Presidential (EO)101).

On 6 August 2020, with the "EO 13942' [11The White House tenant announced that, after 45 days of signing the measure, transactions with the United States were prohibited for each person and in relation to any property under US jurisdiction.ByteDance Ltd. In fact, one went to impose adeadline45 days for the sale, to an American company, of TikTok, already in negotiations with various multinationals, including Microsoft and Oracle[12][13].

On 14 August 2020, a second OECD was issued [14The Commission has therefore decided to initiate proceedings under Article 85 (3) of the Treaty.ByteDancethe transfer of all its ownassetThe Commission has also taken note of the fact that the Commission has not yet taken any action to prevent the use of the Internet in the field of data protection.Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States(CFIUS), interagency committee analysing foreign investment inLand of the Freeand the implications of these in the area of national security [151).

The Colossustechhas reacted by bringing a lawsuit against the federal government for alleged violation of thetwo process rightsThe Court held that the Court had not ruled that the principle of equal treatment for men and women was not applicable to the same sex as that of men and women.unusual and extraordinary threat, The Commission considers that the measure is not compatible with the internal market.161).

In parallel with the court proceedings, negotiations continued for the sale of the application, with the OECDs in the meantime remaining enforceable. Negotiations which, in September 2020, seemed to have reached a conclusion, with a consortium formed by Oracle and Walmart which, inserted at the last, had exceeded Microsoft [17], long considered in pole position.

According to a joint statement by the two multinationals, published on 19 September 2020 [18The agreement should have been structured in the form of a partnership rather than a genuine acquisition by the North American group. In particular, Oracle and Walmart would have acquired 12.5 and 7.5% respectively of the newbornTikTok GlobaThe Commission has also taken the view that the Commission's decision to initiate the procedure for the application of Article 85 (3) of the Treaty to the State aid granted to the steel industry is not contrary to the principle of equal treatment for undertakings in the steel industry.initial public offering) - i.e. at a stage prior to listing on a regulated market [19] This solution had also found Trump's approval, but it did not materialize.

The reasons were many: starting from the disagreement on the exact terms, with ByteDance convinced in wanting to maintain a quota ofOracleand the Trump administration pushed for an absolute disinvestment by the Chinese giant [20; passing through theprimily injunction• an injunction, which may be guaranteed before or during the trial, with the aim of preserving thestatus quobefore the final judgment [21] • to prevent the ban on the app, approved by Judge Carl Nichols on 27 September 2020 [22==References====External links==* Official website

Mr TiktokBAN□ IN THE CHAIR: MR BIDEN

In June 2021, the newly elected President issued the EO 14034 [23rd), with which he went to withdraw thebanpromoted by his predecessor, ordering instead toSecretary of Commerceto investigate TikTok to determine whether it could actually pose a threat to national security [241).

The iconic application of short videos in the USA continued to be a source of scandals, including the one reported byBuzzFeed NewsIn June 2022, despite years of allegations of privacy, TikTok claimed that information about users in the United States would not be stored in China, the audios examined by the New York newspaper

This problem was going to take on the size of a risk to the security of the nation since, according to the Chinese Data Security Law, the Government has the power to regulate the practices of private companies for the storage and management of information, if these collectcore date(essential data), a broad term that can indicate whatever Beijing considers a public concern [25][261).

Following these revelations, there were numerous appeals for the removal of the program from digital stores, including Christopher Wray's, at the time director of the FBI. Several Republican-led states, including South Dakota (EO 2022-10), imposed a veto on the installation of TikTok ongovernment-issued devices, including any device that can connect to the Internet [271).

In December 2022, the United States Senate unanimously approved the draft law of the cd. No TikTok on Government Devices Act, aimed at prohibiting the installation and use of the app on phones, computers and othersdevicesprovided by the federal government or government companies [28] Included then in theConsolidated Appropriations Act2023 • Consolidated draft law on federal expenditure for the year 2023 - and voted again in the two rooms, became law on 29 December 2022 [29th1).

The last significant intervention of the democratic administration on TikTok and national security is represented by the presidential signature, on 24 April 2024, of the Public Law 118-50 [30], containing theProtecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Application Act(PAFACA).

Inserting PAFACA into asuitability bill• in a bill to allocate federal funds to specific federal departments, agencies and programmes • which also concerned the financing of the Ukrainian armed forces and Israeli missile defence, the Republicans promoters in the House have certainly put pressure on other legislators, including the Senate, making sure that they had to make a single vote for or against the entire package.

The PAFACA provided for prohibition of the social networking services consideredforeign adversary controlled application• specifying that each platform operated by ByteDance or TikTok - within 270 days, should the President have considered them a national security hazard.

More specifically, the measure prohibited the distribution, maintenance or updating by service operators ofweb hostingandapp store, of all those platforms which they had maintained or acquired, after 270 days from the entry into force (with the possibility of a1-time extension90 days), the qualification offoreign adversary controlled application.However, theforeign adversary controlled applicationfor which aqualified to displacehad intervened before the date of the ban.

ByteDance replied, in May 2024, in proceedings before the Court of Appeals of the United States for the Circuit of the District of Columbia, now known as TikTok Inc. v. Garland, in which it contested the constitutional legitimacy of the law for violation of the I and the Fifth Amendment.

In particular, thepetitionThe plaintiff argued that the prohibition of the application, in the event of a non-transfer, would have been in breach of thefree speech rightsThe Commission has also been given the opportunity to make a statement on the need to ensure that the European Union is not a party to the Treaty.ban, excluding TikTok Inc. andByteDance LtdOn the basis of these complaints, you went to ask for adeclaratory judgementpreventing the implementation of the PAFACA [31][321).

On 6 December 2024, the Court of Appeal rejected the applicant's arguments of unconstitutionality, considering that the law was not contrary to the First Amendment, nor was it contrary to the guarantee of equality before the law, to be found in addition to the XIV Amendment - in thetwo-process clauseof the Fifth Amendment [33The decision was readily challenged on 16 December before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).

Mr TiktokBAN• SECOND PRESIDENCY

Since November 2024, theTikTok BanIt inevitably ended up intertwining with Donald Trump's re-election as President of the United States of America. In fact, even before his establishment, thetycoonhad submitted aamicus briefrequiring the Supreme Court to suspend the enforcement of the law without taking a decision, until at least the beginning of its term of office [341).

Despite this attempt, on 17 January, SCOTUS unanimously issued a judgment confirming the constitutional legitimacy of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Application Act [35), opening to its implementation on 19 January.

On January 18, following a press release from the Chinese platform, the app became inaccessible in the United States. Users who tried to access the platform displayed the following message:"Sorry, TikTok is not available at the moment. In the United States a law has been enacted prohibiting TikTok. Unfortunately, this means that for now you cannot use TikTok. We are lucky that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us to find a solution to restore TikTok once in office. Stay tuned!"[361).

On 20 January 2025, the first day of his second term ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................37], with which he has placed theenforcementThe PAFACA's other 75 days, instructing the Attorney General not to take any action to enforce the law at that time and ordering the Department of Justice not to execute it or impose sanctions for its non-compliance. A few hours later, the social service had been restored for US users; until February 13, however, it was impossible to download the app from Google and Apple stores.

The Commission has also taken the view that the aid granted to the French Republic is compatible with the internal market and that it is not compatible with the internal market.qualified to displace, which were not in progress.

Therefore, it was asked whether the President could suspend the federal rule and order the Attorney General not to apply it for a specified period of time. Some scholars have expressed a negative opinion on the order, considering that what it contains would exceed the presidential powers, which do not attribute the authority to repeal the law and exempt from liability those who violate it while it is not applied [38][39Despite these doubts about its legitimacy, the measure remained perfectly effective.

On 5 April 2025, in the absence of the transfer of the application, the legislative act adopted during the Biden Presidency should have been implemented. However, the day before, the POTUS had signed another EO, number 14258 [40The Commission therefore considers that the aid granted to the applicant is compatible with the internal market.41] and 14350 [42The Court of First Instance held that the Commission had not been able to give a preliminary ruling on the application of Article 85 (1) of the Treaty to the Commission.

Mr TiktokBAN- What's going on in these days?

On 15 September, after days of negotiations in Madrid, Trump announced that it had reached a broad agreement on the application, which should involve♪ a group of very big companies that want to buy it431).

On September 20, he reported a long phone call with Chinese president Xi Jinping, during which the platform would be discussed. Finally, on September 25, he signed the "EO" called "Saving TikTok while Protecting National Security" [44) which formally recognised the existence of aFramework Agreementfor thequalified to displaceTikTok's activities in the USA and instructed the Attorney General and the Department of Justice to suspend the application of the PAFACA for another 120 days, in order to allow the operation.

Later, the first details of the understanding began to emerge, which would lead to the creation of a new entity to manage TikTok in the United States. A consortium of new investors, including the private equity company Silver Lake and Oracle, already involved in previous negotiations, would determine about half of it. Instead, existing investors - such as the trading company Susquehanna International - about 30%. The participation of the parent company of the app, ByteDance, would fall below 20% to comply with the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Application Act.

In addition, ByteDance should reprogram a new version of the algorithm, under the supervision of Oracle and the US government, to then license it to the newly-born company. Thus, users would be able to access the service through the same app, without Beijing being able to obtain the data in any way.

The Board of Directors should be made up of seven members, of whom only one selected by the Chinese tech giant, excluded by the Security Committee [45][461).

According to a close associate of Trump, the federal government would not be expected to acquire a share or a gold share in the social media company [47However, the Administration would be entitled to multi-billion-dollar compensation for facilitating negotiations.

Finally, it should be borne in mind that, although a framework has been drawn up, the parties still need to clear the details of the transaction and define the final group of investors.

It seems therefore to come to an end this arm of iron between Washington and TikTok, who has gone through three different presidential mandates and deeply marked American domestic and foreign politics. The story has not only represented the issue between one of the largest Western powers and an Internet titan, but is the expression of a type of conflict that is increasingly widespread: the one between the importance that social platforms are assuming on the global chessboard and the will of States to reaffirm their sovereignty.