A recent report from The Washington Post has concluded that TikTok, a popular social media platform, does not threaten civil liberties or pose a security risk to the U.S., casting doubt on the Trump administration’s claims that the app presents a threat.
According to the report, the investigation concluded that the app does not present a security risk and any fears of Chinese data collection are largely overblown.
The report also says that the app is not a tool of the Chinese government for censorship or propaganda, and even if it was, the app is currently blocked in China. The Post also added that the information collected by the app was “comparable in scope to other popular platforms” such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter, and those companies also collect data in the regions where their apps are used.
Finally, the report concluded that TikTok does present some risks related to privacy, but it also noted that these risks were “not materially different than other social media platforms”. In conclusion, the report argued that “TikTok does not threaten civil liberties” and instead “frees people from China’s digital poison”.