Why TikTok has become public enemy number one

US lawmakers see TikTok as a problem.

However, the bipartisan attack on the short-form video app, owned by China-based ByteDance, actually highlights two different difficulties, each in turn opening up a much larger Pandora's box.

A House committee of congressmen questioned TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Thursday on various topics including adolescent mental health, legal protections for social media apps, fentanyl sales and censorship. of content related to China's treatment of Uyghurs (a predominantly Muslim ethnic group).

It was a hostile appearance;

One member compared Chew to Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, citing the Facebook founder's “vague responses” during his own appearances on Capitol Hill.

The main reason for Chew's appearance is that President Joe Biden's government, and many in Congress, believe that Chinese financial backing for TikTok makes it a dangerous tool of the People's Republic.

Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers accused TikTok of collecting biometric data and manipulating the information users see.

But the attack on TikTok is confusing.

Some politicians focus on their data collection;

others in the ideas that it allows to spread.

And they are different things.

As for the first, data, TikTok is not the only one possibly collecting consumer information while maintaining close ties to China.

In that sense, the fast-fashion company Shein, which is trying to raise $2 billion in an IPO, is also a concern.

So is PDD's Temu e-commerce service, the eighth most downloaded shopping app last year, according to Apptopia.

CapCut, a video editing tool owned by ByteDance, also closed that list.

Is location data more sensitive than purchase history or what a user sees?

It does not seem that the legislators decide.

And then there's TikTok's influence on how Americans think.

Since it is a social network, it could be a propaganda tool in certain hands.

But so could their American rivals.

Meta's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and Alphabet's YouTube have been singled out for harboring disinformation campaigns.

Having a Chinese parent could theoretically make TikTok prone to political pressure.

However, so would having key factories and customer groups in China.

By that logic, most of the US tech sector would be under suspicion.

It's not a bad thing to watch TikTok for privacy and persuasion, but it's a distraction from focusing on bigger issues, requiring more thought and more resources than Congress currently seems willing to give.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: BREAKINGVIEWS.REUTERS.COM

The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists.

Opinions are yours.

The translation is the responsibility of EL PAÍS

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