Is it too Late to Regulate the Internet now?—A Topic Raised by the Recent Tik Tok Ban
Are you a Tik Tok user?
If you are, recent news might have brought you attention that India has officially banned Tik Tok. And this was not over, a recent Trump campaign began running ads on Facebook that asked people to sign a petition calling for a ban on Tik Tok.
Due to the security concern because of its ties to the Chinese government. Tik Tok which is owned by Beijing- based Internet company ByteDance has been repeatedly criticized by US politicians who worried about Tik Tok abuse users data and share it to the Chinese Government to accuse this social media App of being a threat to the U.S national security.
Tik Tok’s Rollercoaster Journey in 2020
Tik Tok has 800 million active users in the world among which 70 million active uses in the U.S during the pandemic. Tik Tok experience boom during the COVID-19 pandemic in the worldwide, millennial and teens bring a chance to connect with their friends and family, share the creative short video in Tik Tok. Tik Tok has become the biggest part of the stay at home life.
Citing national security concerns, the US Army and Navy have banned service members from downloading the app to government-issued phones. Indian has banned Tik Tok this month due to the conflict at the India-China border in the Himalayas. Which may lead Tik Tok to lose up to $6 billion.
About Cyber Security and Privacy
The US government has never tried to target and ban any social media platform before. This time it seems very serious. I think the raising awareness of national security and personal data security contribute to the potential Tiktok ban. Cyber security has been placed prior to business interest by the US government and many ban supporters.
Is it already too late to regulate the Internet Company?
When you upload personal information online, have you ever wondered who will have access to your personal information and how safe are those information?
This is a question that many social media users never think about before. However, after the Tik Tok crisis, many people start to realize the significance and importance of Internet data security. Internet privacy is becoming a growing concern these days for users of all ages.
On one side, people share their personal lives on social media, losing the boundaries of how much they are exposing themselves. Companies track our behavior across websites to serve us with highly relevant advertisements. Therefore it is important for everyone to protect their own personal information and provide a safe Internet environment. After all, there would be nothing stopping what you do online from being entirely public.
On the other side, I think the answer is never be too late to regulate the internet company. The EU passed the GDPR in 2018 and the U.S California passed the CPPA in this year. The landmark law secures new privacy rights for EU and California consumers, which I believe is a good start. People browse many websites anytime and expose their personal information anywhere, if the internet is regulated now people can protect their privacy immediately through the law to overcome the rising security risk overtime.
After all, I think Internet companies like Tik Tok need more transparency of how they handle their user data.
Let me know what you think of how to regulate the Internet company to keep our information safe!
