While there has been speculation that Donald Trump’s recent election win might result in the planned TikTok ban in the US being scrapped, Trump has now revealed his nominee for Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, outspoken TikTok critic Brendan Carr.
Carr, already an FCC Commissioner, has repeatedly criticised TikTok, insisting that it poses a national security risk on the basis that the Chinese government has access to US user data via the social media app’s China-based owner Bytedance.
In an interview with Bloomberg earlier this year, he stated, “for years, [TikTok] told US lawmakers, don’t worry, US user data isn’t even existing inside China. And then a blockbuster report came out in 2022 that showed, in fact, ‘everything is seen inside of China’”. And that includes “keystroke patterns, biometrics, search and browsing history, location”.
TikTok, he continued, then said “Okay, you caught us red-handed. We’re going to wall off US user data”. But “lo and behold, the Wall Street Journal report came out and found that personnel in Beijing are still getting access to that data, sensitive US user data, after agreeing to wall it off”.
Those comments were made in March as US Congress considered the sell-or-be-banned law that was subsequently passed. Under that law, Bytedance must sell TikTok by next January or the app will be banned within the US.
At the time Carr told Bloomberg this was “a smart approach”, because the desired outcome of the law is actually a change of ownership at TikTok rather than a ban, meaning it would remain in the marketplace as a competitor to other major players like Facebook and YouTube.
The new owner “doesn't need to be a US company”, Carr said, it could be “any company that’s not tied to China, Russia, North Korea or Iran”. Then, he added, “you continue to have TikTok in the marketplace as a counterweight to Facebook, as a counterweight to others, but it can be there in a way that doesn’t present the national security threats”.
TikTok acting as “a counterweight to Facebook” is particularly relevant, because Trump has shifted his position on TikTok in the last couple of years partly because of his strong dislike of Facebook, its owner Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Trump tried to ban TikTok when he was President first time round, but has since indicated that he now opposes the ban, repeatedly vowing during this year’s Presidential campaign that he would “save TikTok” and reverse the sell-or-be-banned law that has been endorsed by current President Joe Biden.
Despite Carr - and other supporters of the sell-or-be-banned law - insisting that Bytedance selling TikTok is the desired outcome, Bytedance has repeatedly stated that a sale will not happen and, therefore, if the law is not overturned the app will simply stop operating in the US.
Given the billions TikTok generates in the US market some still see that position as a bluff, although any attempt by Bytedance to sell TikTok outright would likely run into legal issues in China. Just selling the TikTok US business might be a compromise, though Bytedance insists that slicing off the US operation would be a technical nightmare greatly hindering the user experience within the US market.
The FCC doesn’t directly regulate tech companies and digital platforms, although it does oversee things like broadband access and net neutrality. And if Carr’s appointment is approved, he seems likely to be an FCC Chair that will be openly critical of big tech, and especially TikTok, potentially influencing the positions taken by Trump’s government, including in relation to the ban.
Although, that said, if Elon Musk maintains his current close alliance with Trump, his opinion on TikTok will probably have more influence as the new US government decides what to do as the deadline set by Congress for Bytedance to divest the app expires.