The rise of TikTok as the first non-US social media platform to rival American digital hegemony marks a pivotal shift in the global tech landscape. With over 170 million US users—nearly half the population—TikTok has become a cultural and political force, challenging Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Alphabet’s YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter) in shaping public discourse.[1] This disruption has thrust TikTok into the centre of US-China tensions, raising questions about data sovereignty, national security, and the future of free expression.
Data as Power: The New Frontier of Influence
Social media platforms are no longer mere content distributors but custodians of vast troves of user data, including location histories, browsing habits, and even biometric information. Analysts argue that this data grants platforms unparalleled power to influence opinion, manipulate markets, and predict societal trends.
Social media platforms are no longer mere content distributors but custodians of vast troves of user data
However, TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, operates under China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, which mandates that Chinese firms assist state security agencies upon request. Despite this, US officials, including former FBI Director Christopher Wray, have repeatedly warned that Beijing could exploit TikTok’s algorithm to “manipulate narratives” or conduct espionage.[2] While TikTok denies sharing US user data with the Chinese government and has stored American data on Oracle servers since 2022, scepticism persists. A 2023 report by the Brookings Institute noted that “…data localisation alone cannot eliminate risks of algorithmic manipulation,” given the opaque nature of TikTok’s content recommendation systems.[3]
The Palestine Conflict: A Content Catalyst for Crackdowns
The US legislative push to ban TikTok gained renewed urgency amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as pro-Palestinian content surged on the platform. A 2024 study by the University of Michigan found that TikTok users were 35% more likely to encounter posts critical of Israel’s military actions compared to Instagram or X. A 2024 Media Matters analysis found pro-Palestinian hashtags (#FreePalestine, #GazaGenocide) generated 8x more engagement on TikTok than pro-Israel content. It is little wonder that famous Zionists themselves are frequently concluding that Israel has lost a generation in the US.
In 2024 an audio leak from Jonathon Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) had him stating: “The issue in the United States of support for Israel is not left and right. It is young and old. And the numbers of young people who think that Hamas’, you know, massacre was justified is shockingly and terrifyingly odd. And so we really have a TikTok problem.”[4]
The TikTok saga underscores a broader US anxiety over losing its tech primacy. China now leads in 37 of 44 critical technologies of the future
Israeli officials, including Foreign Minister Israel Katz, reportedly lobbied US lawmakers to address TikTok’s “biased amplification,” claiming it fuelled global anti-Israel sentiment.[5] This pressure coincided with bipartisan support for the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” signed into law in April 2024, which mandates ByteDance divest TikTok’s US operations or face a ban.
Critics argue the US has weaponised national security concerns to suppress narratives challenging its foreign policy. “The timing is conspicuous. After years of stalled action, the Gaza coverage became the tipping point,” said Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.[6] The ACLU has condemned the law as a violation of First Amendment rights, noting that 62% of US adults under 30 regularly get news from TikTok[7]
Hypocrisy vs. Hegemony: The US-China Tech Standoff
The TikTok saga underscores a broader US anxiety over losing its tech primacy. China now leads in 37 of 44 critical technologies of the future, including AI and semiconductors, according to a 2023 Australian Strategic Policy Institute report.[8] Rather than innovate, the US has resorted to punitive measures; the TikTok ban follows Huawei’s 2019 blacklisting and sweeping semiconductor export controls. In 2020, the US threatened sanctions against the UK if it adopted Huawei for its 5G network, resulting in the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre advising its government against Chinese technology.
“This isn’t about data security; it’s about maintaining US cultural and ideological dominance,” argued Graham Webster, a Stanford scholar on US-China relations. While the US government has aggressively targeted TikTok over fears of Chinese data access, critics accuse Washington of turning a blind eye to the data-sharing practices of US tech firms with Israel—a close ally whose surveillance programs and military operations have raised human rights concerns. This double standard underscores broader questions about US data governance, corporate accountability and the geopolitics of digital trust.
Despite its “privacy-first” branding, US giants like Apple complies with Israeli data requests. In 2023, Apple provided data on 1,362 Israeli accounts (78% of requests), per its 2023 Transparency Report. The ‘2021 Bilateral Data Access Agreement’ also allows Israeli law enforcement to request user data directly from US companies like Meta and Apple under the CLOUD Act, bypassing traditional diplomatic channels.
China has seized on the contradiction. State media outlet Global Times accused the US of “digital colonialism,” while analysts like Eurasia Group’s Xiaomeng Lu warn that US actions could spur a “splinternet,” Balkanizing the web into US and Chinese spheres. Meanwhile, Beijing has tightened its grip on domestic platforms like WeChat, censoring dissent—a stark contrast to its rhetoric about Western “free speech hypocrisy.”
The recent revelation of China’s AI model, DeepSeek, at a fraction of US cost and with the Chinese scrambling to counter US chip restrictions, has further sent the American administration and Silicon Valley into meltdown.
While the US government has aggressively targeted TikTok over fears of Chinese data access, critics accuse Washington of turning a blind eye to the data-sharing practices of US tech firms with Israel
The Battle for the Digital Soul
The TikTok crackdown reveals a paradox: a nation built on free-market ideals is stifling competition to curb a geopolitical rival. While data security concerns may be valid, the US has yet to pass comprehensive privacy legislation to address root vulnerabilities exploited by all platforms and ultimately, Israel. One thing is certain; the debate will intensify—not just over TikTok, but over who controls the narrative in a fractured digital world. “This isn’t the endgame,” warned former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. “It’s the opening skirmish in a decades-long fight for technological supremacy.”[9]
While the US may gain back control over the type of information people see and are exposed to, the question of what the US will lose from such measures is more sobering for an ageing liberal empire trying to claw back narratives by force.
[1] TikTok Ban—New Threat Confirmed For Users
[2] Banning TikTok Won’t Solve Your Data-Security Problem – WSJ
[3] The case for open data access to aid tech regulation
[4] TikTok US: pro-Israel lobbyist’s leaked call sheds light on ‘ban’
[5] Inside Lawmakers’ Secretive Push to Pass the TikTok Bill – The New York Times
[6] The Battle Over College Speech Will Outlive the Encampments – The New York Times
[7] Social Media and News Fact Sheet, 2024 | Pew Research Center
[8] ASPI’s Critical Technology Tracker | Australian Strategic Policy Institute | ASPI
[9] See, https://www.ft.com/content/a64ba306-9247-49bb-9acb-2794c782fb59