The Risks of TikTok in the Context of Digital Sovereignty: A Case Study of the U.S. Ban on TikTok
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/z4a9b081Keywords:
Digital Sovereignty, Ban on TikTok, Digital Boundaries, U.S. Authorities, Political InfluenceAbstract
TikTok stands out as the top choice for digital social networking among the youth in the United States, despite being viewed by the U.S. authorities as a potential risk to the nation's security. Over the past few years, the concept of digital sovereignty has gained prominence, with growing global interest and scrutiny from the international community regarding this matter. This article organizes the relevant concepts of digital sovereignty, discusses geopolitics and digital boundaries, reviews the ban on TikTok in the United States, and combines the background of digital sovereignty with the ban on TikTok to draw a conclusion: TikTok poses a threat to the U.S. government and society in terms of data collection, algorithmic control, and political influence, and these threats are part of the background of digital sovereignty. Ultimately, this article calls for a joint effort from the international community to balance the relationship between data security, freedom of information, and technological innovation, and to strengthen the emphasis on the issue of digital sovereignty.
Downloads
References
[1] Glasze, G., Cattaruzza, A., Douzet, F., et al. (2022). Contested spatialities of digital sovereignty. Geopolitics, 28(2), 919-958. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2022.2050070
[2] Budnitsky, S., & Jia, L. (2018). Branding internet sovereignty: Digital media and the Chinese-Russian cyberalliance. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 21(5), 594–613. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549417751151
[3] Farrand, B., & Carrapico, H. (2022). Digital sovereignty and taking back control: From regulatory capitalism to regulatory mercantilism in EU cybersecurity. European Security, 31(3), 435–453. https://doi.org/10.1080/09662839.2022.2102896
[4] Möllers, N. (2021). Making digital territory: Cybersecurity, techno-nationalism, and the moral boundaries of the state. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 46(1), 112–138. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243920904436
[5] Ash, J., Kitchin, R., & Leszczynski, A. (2018). Digital geographies. SAGE.
[6] Couture, S., & Toupin, S. (2019). What does the notion of “sovereignty” mean when referring to the digital? New Media & Society, 21(10), 2305–2322. https://doi.org/10.1177/146 1444819865984
[7] Foridi, L. (2020). The fight for digital sovereignty: What it is, and why it matters, especially for the EU. Philosophy & Technology, 33(3), 369–378. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-020-00423-6
[8] Falkner, G., Heidebrecht, S., Obendiek, A., & Seidl, T. (2024). Digital sovereignty - Rhetoric and reality. Journal of European Public Policy, 31(8), 2099-2120. https://doi.org/10.1080/13 501763. 2024.2358984
[9] Becerra, M., & Waisbord, S. R. (2021). The curious absence of cybernationalism in Latin America: Lessons for the study of digital sovereignty and governance. Communication and the Public, 6(1–4), 67–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 20501582 20974687
[10] Chander, A., & Sun, H. (2021). Sovereignty 2.0. Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works, 2404. https://doi. org/10.2139/ssrn.3904949
[11] Cheng, Z., & Li, Y. (2024). Like, Comment, and Share on TikTok: Exploring the Effect of Sentiment and Second-Person View on the User Engagement with TikTok News Videos. Social Science Computer Review, 42(1), 201-223. https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393231178603
[12] Heath, C. (1996). Do people prefer to pass along good or bad news? Valence and relevance of news as predictors of transmission propensity. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 68(2), 79–94. https://doi.org/10.1006/ obhd.1996.0091
[13] Shepherd, R. P. (2020). Gaming Reddit’s Algorithm: r/the_donald, Amplification, and the Rhetoric of Sorting. Computers and Composition, 56, 102572. https://doi.org/1 0.1016/j.compcom.2020.102572
[14] Brady, W. J., Jackson, J. C., Lindström, B., & Crockett, M. J. (2023). Algorithm-mediated social learning in online social networks. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 27(10), 947-960. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2023.07.005
[15] Arugute, N., et al. (2023). Network activated frames: content sharing and perceived polarization in social media. Journal of Communication, 73, 14–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/ jcom.127 08
[16] Levendusky, M. S., & Malhotra, N. (2016). (Mis)perceptions of Partisan Polarization in the American Public. Public Opinion Quarterly, 80, 378–391. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfw018
[17] Rozin, P., & Royzman, E. B. (2001). Negativity Bias, Negativity Dominance, and Contagion. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 296–320. https://doi.org/10.1177/108 886830100500302
[18] Brown, M. A., et al. (2022). Echo Chambers, Rabbit Holes, and Algorithmic Bias: How YouTube Recommends Content to Real Users. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4114905
[19] Kim, D. H., & Ellison, N. B. (2022). From observation on social media to offline political participation: The social media affordances approach. New Media & Society, 24, 2614–2634. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820975465
[20] Brady, W. J., et al. (2021). How social learning amplifies moral outrage expression in online social networks. Science Advances, 7, eabe5641. https://doi.org/10.1126/ sciadv.abe56 41
[21] Clayton, K., Blair, S., Busam, J. A., Forstner, S., Glance, G., Green, A., Kawata, A., et al. (2020). Real Solutions for Fake News? Measuring the Effectiveness of General Warnings and Fact-Check Tags in Reducing Belief in False Stories on Social Media. Political Behavior, 42(4), 1073–1095. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-019-09533-0
[22] Bridgman, A., Merkley, E., Loewen, P. J., Owen, T., Ruths, D., Teichmann, L., & Zhilin, O. (2020). The Causes and Consequences of COVID-19 Misperceptions: Understanding the Role of News and Social Media. Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, 1(3), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.37240/ 89.misinforeview.2020.03
[23] Uscinski, J. E., & Butler, R. W. (2013). The Epistemology of Fact Checking. Critical Review, 25(2), 162–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/08913811.2013.843872
[24] Humprecht, E., Esser, F., & Van Aelst, P. (2020). Resilience to Online Disinformation: A Framework for Cross-National Comparative Research. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 25(3), 493–516. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 19401 61219900126
[25] Zulli, D., & Zulli, D. J. (2022). Extending the Internet meme: Conceptualizing technological mimesis and imitation publics on the TikTok platform. New Media & Society, 24(8), 1872-1890. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820983603
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 International Journal of Education and Humanities
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
