What does the TikTok ban mean for the US-China competition?

TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is facing a ban in the United States. What happens next will have significant consequences for global competition in the tech sector between China and the United States and could shape the relationship of the incoming president, Donald Trump, with Beijing.

The video platform is China’s first global app and has outperformed U.S.-owned rivals like Instagram, Facebook, and X. The issue of Chinese ownership placed TikTok in the crosshairs of the U.S. Congress, which in April 2024 passed a law addressing national security concerns, including the spread of disinformation and espionage. The law requires ByteDance to sell the app by January 19 or face a ban.

While critics of the ban argue that similar data and privacy concerns exist for U.S.-based social media platforms, the Chinese ownership of TikTok adds a new dimension to the debate.

Cybersecurity firms have suggested that the app is capable of collecting user data beyond the content viewed on TikTok, and a 2017 Chinese law mandates Chinese citizens living abroad to cooperate with its intelligence apparatus.

In 2023, a British journalist reported that her data and location were tracked by TikTok employees in China and the U.S. Legal documents in the U.S. from a former ByteDance employee also detailed how the Chinese Communist Party accessed company data to spy on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong in 2018.

All of this is unfolding amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington and growing concerns about Chinese espionage and hacking in the U.S.

Trump has hinted at opposing the ban, despite initially supporting such a move. On January 17, he stated that his decision on TikTok “will be made in the not-too-distant future.” He also revealed that he had spoken with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and discussed TikTok, among other issues.

Trump’s previous term as president, from 2016 to 2020, was marked by a tough stance on China, targeting Chinese companies both within China and abroad, from 5G telecommunications infrastructure to surveillance camera firms. This tough approach occurred in the context of intensifying technological competition between Beijing and Washington.

TikTok is the international version of ByteDance’s Douyin, which serves markets in Hong Kong and China and adheres to Beijing’s strict censorship apparatus. While TikTok is a successful business, its popularity and influence have given Beijing global leverage. ByteDance’s reluctance to change ownership underscores the value of its algorithm and the importance of keeping TikTok as a Chinese company.

How Trump handles this ban could serve as an early indicator of how he will approach relations with China and the type of dynamics he will establish with Xi.

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