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Host (00:02.079)
A seismic event unfolded at midnight.
A seismic event unfolded at midnight, the TikTok ban. Yes, as of today, January 19th, 2025, social media app that has been downloaded billions of times worldwide, the app responsible for viral trends, overnight sensations, and hours and hours of endless scrolling has ceased to exist and become prohibited in the United States.
Now, a more recent update that just happened, it's 2 p.m., a little bit after 2 p.m. Eastern time right now on Sunday, January 19th. President Donald Trump, who comes into office tomorrow on January 20th, has said that he will issue an executive order giving TikTok 90 days to sell. Now, the issue is, will they actually sell?
many don't believe they ever will. Or if they do, they won't give the algorithm. And the algorithm is what makes TikTok, TikTok. Apple said in a statement on its website that three TikTok apps and eight other ByteDance, the parent company that has ties to the Chinese military and Chinese government, allegedly, that ByteDance created apps were no longer available in the U.S.
while visitors to other countries might have limited access. The removed apps include video editing program CapCut, art editing program Hippoc, and Lemonade, which is almost like a Pinterest in a sense, right? Which is a video sharing app that includes some of the features as TikTok. Apple is obligated, Apple stated.
Host (02:04.415)
Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates, the company said. Apple said the apps would remain on the devices of people who already had them installed, but in-app purchases and new subscriptions no longer were possible, and that operating updates to iPhones and iPads might affect the app's future performance. In the months since Congress passed the sell or ban law,
And listeners and viewers of our show will know that for the last three years, we've had over five episodes about the TikTok ban and about this day coming forward. But President Trump has said that he hopes his administration can facilitate a deal to save the app. Regardless, let's pause for a second and think beyond the headlines. Why was it banned?
And what does this mean for you, your privacy and even global geopolitics? Let me ask you a question. What if? What if a government didn't need to spend trillions of dollars on satellites to spy on another country, which they deem is an enemy and make no mistake about it? Americans and North Americans and Canadians and Australians and people in Europe, you are not
an ally to them.
What if a government that was run by a totalitarian communist country didn't need to spend time, money, and resources on advanced drones? No trained agents traveling halfway across the world to risk their lives for data collection or espionage. What if instead of all that, they simply created an app? One that was irresistible. One that entertained, distracted,
Host (04:03.468)
and one that slowly but surely collected every piece of critical, personal, and behavioral data it needed, while users voluntarily used it and gave up that information, knowingly or unknowingly. Now, I don't know where you sit. I don't know whether you knowingly have been giving up this information or unknowingly, but...
If you've missed the prior episodes, did you know that when you download the app on your iPhone, it records your keystrokes and all of your geographical location and all of your interests and other things on other apps. Everything you do on this device gets sent over to a communist totalitarian country that sees you as the enemy.
If you're okay with that and you don't care whether you get controlled by somebody, whether you get manipulated and socially engineered, you are free to do that. Welcome to America. But you see, TikTok is more than just a video sharing app. For many, it was a lifeline of entertainment, creativity and connection. For intelligence experts and those focused on national security, it was a data gathering.
Juggernaut. Think about it. It knew your geographical location, who you were with and where you'd been. It recorded all of your interests, your habits, your passwords, your keystrokes, your banking information, and all of the intimate details of your personal life. It had access, full blown access to your entire device and all of your activity that it did on there.
your passwords, your financial information, and even the schools your kids attended or your health concerns. And while all this may seem harmless, even fun, in reality, it built a treasure trove of intelligence. And here's where it gets a little chilling. What if that intelligence was being leveraged by government, not just to understand an entire population, but to shape it?
Host (06:26.997)
to either misinform it or to ultimately control it. What if a totalitarian communist country put in a manifesto 25 years ago that that was its intent? yes, that's reality. See, this isn't a dystopian novel and this goes beyond the right to free speech. This is social engineering at scale.
convincing a nation's people to volunteer the very data that could later be weaponized against them. The same app that fed us entertainment was also feeding us something else, a sophisticated machine designed to harvest information for geopolitical gain. And the implications are massive. Think about what happened when India banned TikTok in 2020. Almost a billion users suddenly lost access.
But that wasn't the real loss. It was an economic ripple effect. Creators who built entire livelihoods on the platform were left stranded. Small businesses relying on TikTok reached for TikTok reach for their marketing were gutted. An entire generation's creative outlook vanished overnight. Now the United States faces a similar reality. Millions of people will wake up today who launched the app and they found nothing.
And for some it's a slight inconvenience, for others it's an economic disaster. My question to you is, it worth it? Was it worth it to put all of your eggs in that basket to create your small business on that platform? Or was it unknowingly done? Was it just gullibility and just naivete?
that you didn't know this, but it has been on the news for over three years that this is what's been going on. Or were we all just playing a dangerous game with an invisible enemy? A game we didn't realize we were using and losing until it was too late. The TikTok ban isn't just about a nap, it's a wake up call. For those bemoaning the ban, I realize there is hardship now.
Host (08:53.489)
And hopefully it can be resolved. Hopefully they can find a buyer and make it owned by private industry where there's some checks and balances, not by a single hand in control of one country that doesn't hold your interests in play. In fact, it holds the opposite of your interests as its very own.
Host (09:25.033)
If TikTok cared about the money and cared about selling, why hasn't it sold? This has been announced and planned for a long time, plenty of time to sell. What if it's never been about the money? What if it's always been about the data? Your data. When the app is free, you are the product.
The single fact that they never sold shows what it was all about. A powerful tactic. So if they do wind up selling and they do wind up selling and giving over the algorithm and it's an actual sale, then I'll stand corrected in that this will be a good thing. But if that doesn't happen because it has been going on for years and it still hasn't happened,
then forgive me for eye rolling at anyone moaning about the shutdown and virtue signaling. You're not virtuous. You got played. Welcome to 2025. It's a reminder that nothing is truly free and when the product is free, it's likely you are the product. So please stay vigilant, please stay informed and always try and stay cyber safe.
Thanks for tuning in to Cyber Crime Junkies podcast. If you found today's episode eye-opening, share it, leave a review, and join us next time as we continue to decode the world of cyber threats. See you next time.
