New technologies are changing our world forever. The question is: for the better or for the worse? What are the risks, the shadows, the dangers?
On January 19, TikTok was temporarily banned in the United States following a law requiring ByteDance, its Chinese parent company, to transfer the app to a non-Chinese entity by that date. ByteDance failed to meet the deadline, leading to the app’s suspension. However, on January 20, coinciding with President Trump’s inauguration, TikTok resumed operations. Trump announced an executive order temporarily suspending the law, granting 75 days to negotiate the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations.
Despite the app’s return, TikTok’s future in the U.S. remains uncertain. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law mandating the app’s divestment, increasing pressure on ByteDance to find a suitable buyer.
With over 1.5 billion global users, TikTok has long been accused of posing national security threats, violating privacy, harming mental health, and spreading fake news. Several countries have already taken action: Albania banned it over concerns about security and extremist content; Venezuela fined ByteDance $10 million for privacy violations and manipulating political information. In Romania, TikTok was accused of interfering in the presidential elections by promoting far-right candidate C?lin Georgescu through pro-Russian campaigns. The Constitutional Court later annulled Georgescu’s election results.
The accusations against TikTok are significant but reflect a broader issue affecting all social media platforms. Scandals such as Cambridge Analytica or Elon Musks controversial use of X demonstrate that the power of manipulation is not limited to the Chinese app.
Banning TikTok might provide a temporary fix but risks failing to address a systemic issue: the lack of global regulation for the social media ecosystem. The real challenge lies in ensuring transparency, security, and information protection across all digital platforms, regardless of their origin. Only with a shared regulatory framework can the root problem be effectively tackled.
Alessandro Mancini
Is a graduate in Publishing and Writing from La Sapienza University in Rome, he is a freelance journalist, content creator and social media manager. Between 2018 and 2020, he was editorial director of the online magazine he founded in 2016, Artwave.it, specialising in contemporary art and culture. He writes and speaks mainly about contemporary art, labour, inequality and social rights.
