Commentary
The drumbeat regarding national security risks posed by TikTok, the popular social media app owned by Chinese big-tech firm ByteDance, has reached a fever pitch. After recently blocking it from federal government devices, Congress might now seek an outright national ban of the app. Given the failure of a prior attempted ban due to regulated speech concerns, policymakers should instead press the Biden administration to fulfill a still-active 2020 presidential order to counter the risks. Continued neglect of its implementation could diminish the credibility of future presidents and will surely be interpreted by America’s adversaries as fecklessness and weakness.
Serious policymakers—including the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Intelligence Committee, an FCC Commissioner, and the Director of the FBI—have pushed for decisive action. But today’s “ban TikTok” discourse loses sight of two consequential steps taken by President Trump nearly three years ago….