Commentary
TikTok, the wildly popular and youthful social media app, is controlled by China and tripled its ad revenue in 2022 to $12 billion. Companies want access to this latest conduit to mold youthful preferences, and every year they are willing to pay a lot for the privilege.
Sixty percent of TikTok users are in the age range of 16 to 24, a highly sought demographic for both their impressionability and enduring market potential.
But hapless TikTokers are also apt to lose their private data to Beijing, which ultimately controls TikTok. And the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses its control over TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to manipulate the TikTok algorithm to favor political messaging that promotes China’s national interests over those of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the United States itself….