The Napkin In Between

Unraveling the TikTok Ban: Politics, Privacy, and Personal Vendettas

• Daijné Jones • Season 1 • Episode 5

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Is TikTok truly a national security threat, or was it just a target in a personal vendetta by former (& now current) President Donald Trump? Join me, Daijné Jones, on The Napkin In Between Podcast as we unravel the tangled web of politics and personal grievances that fueled the explosive debate over the TikTok ban in the United States. This episode promises a thorough exploration of the contentious journey from Trump's initial claims to the potential sale to Microsoft, all while questioning the real motives behind the headlines. Was it all about safeguarding data, or did it have more to do with Trump’s portrayal on the app?

Travel with us through a timeline marked by high-stakes political maneuvers, from the routing of U.S. TikTok traffic to Oracle to the controversial bipartisan bill linking its fate to international aid. We lay bare the strategic decisions of political leaders, including President Biden's pivotal role, and reflect on TikTok CEO's actions under pressure. Were they strategic defenses or mere surrenders? This episode is a comprehensive guide to understanding the political theatre and business interests that have shaped TikTok's turbulent history in the U.S., offering insights into the broader implications for free speech and user privacy.

Daijné :

Is this thing on? Hello, hello, uh-oh, another yapper with a mic. Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Napkin In Between Podcast. I'm your host, Daijné Jones, and, girl, you already know what we're going to talk about today this TikTok ban and everything that surrounds it. Okay, I've just done like six hours. I'm not kidding, that is not an exaggeration. I have just done six hours of research. I have like 10 pages here, front and back, of the entire timeline from when this whole TikTok ban thing first started to present day, because I need y'all to understand that Donald Trump did not save TikTok. Donald Trump is, in fact, the reason that the security of TikTok and this conversation about China stealing our data is happening in the first place. He started this entire conversation, so let's get into it. It is a lot of information here. I'm gonna try to make this flow as as good as possible, but, girl, my brain is spinning right now. There's so much information, so let's get into it.

Daijné :

So in 2020 was the first time that the us government announced it was considering banning tiktok, upon request from then President Donald Trump, who viewed the app as a national security threat. So let's talk about this national security threat. Tiktok is owned by ByteDance, which is a company based in China. Now, this claim of national security threat comes from the fact that when you download TikTok and you create a profile different things like that it has access to some of your data. Now, most of the data is just about your phone, and the thing that they're trying to say is a national security threat is that, in its privacy policies, ByteDance reserves the right to share any information with Chinese authorities. Now, there's never been, to my knowledge, any actual data that they've shared with the Chinese government, but they reserve the right to. Now why would China want to share US user data with the Chinese government? The threat that they're saying is that they can manipulate content in order to influence the user to essentially like revolt against the US government. So Trump starts this conversation that TikTok is a national security threat. In July of 2020, Donald Trump announced his decision ordering China's ByteDance to divest ownership of TikTok and threatened to shut down US operations through executive action as soon as August 1st if they didn't comply. So, after that, Microsoft is reported to be in talks with acquiring TikTok, and Trump announces that he plans to ban TikTok in the US and he signals opposition to any sale. He is again trying to say that it's a national security threat. So even the sale to a US company is not good enough. But the real tea is that there was really no evidence of a national security threat.

Daijné :

He just didn't like his image on the app. That's number. He didn't like how people were criticizing him on the app and because of TikTok's algorithm, it's easier to get information out, because typically TikTok will give you content that you've interacted with in the past or content that they think that you may like, and so he didn't like the virality of his negative image on TikTok. Number two people were pulling Y'all are so fucking unserious.

Daijné :

People were pulling pranks on Donald Trump and they were going viral through TikTok. So one of the biggest ones was he was having a rally in Oklahoma and so many people had signed up saying that they were going to attend the rally to make the size of his rally seem that it was going to be way bigger, and then on the date of the actual rally, it was much smaller than he had expected it to be, and you know how Trump is about his rally sizes and how many people are there. He do not play that shit. He wants his rallies to be big because he's a narcissist and he needs a big stage, anyway. So that's what TikTok users were arguing was that the national security threat was just a cover to justify the ban. But what the actual issue was that he didn't like his image on the app and he didn't like that. People were pulling pranks on him.

Daijné :

Security researchers at the time also expressed concerns about limitations on free speech if the app were to be banned. So they were basically saying like there was no real national security threat. It was more of a limitation of speech. For um American users, however, initially ByteDance was just kind of like okay, we, you know, we're not going to really fight this. So on October or, I'm sorry, on August 1st, they agreed to divest TikTok outright to prevent a ban in the US and other countries like Japan, Pakistan and Australia, where restrictions were also being considered. So initially they were just like all right, girl, you got it, we will sell, chill out, you don't need to ban the app. So they initially sought to maintain a minority interest in the sale to a US buyer, and a preliminary deal of TikTok to Microsoft was submitted to Donald Trump for review. The deal basically said that Microsoft would assume data management responsibilities, and the preliminary terms also allowed American investors in TikTok to eventually acquire minority stakes in TikTok post-sale.

Daijné :

Then one day later, on August 2nd 2020, the Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft has paused talks with ByteDance. And then later that day, microsoft confirmed that talks were paused until a conversation between CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, and Donald Trump was held. So then White House advisors persuaded Donald Trump to hold off on an outright ban because of possible legal and political repercussions. So basically, they knew that just outright banning the app could have legal repercussions from TikTok and ByteDance. They also talked about the political repercussions because of so many Americans who were on the app. If he banned the app, it would hurt him for reelection for a second term. So then Donald Trump agreed to put a 45 day hold on any action against TikTok to allow ByteDance to divest the platform to Microsoft or another American-owned corporation.

Daijné :

Then, on August 6, 2020, Donald Trump signs an executive order banning TikTok in 45 days if not sold by ByteDance. And then I'm not sure what really happened between August 6 and August 14, but on August 14, he issues a new executive order giving ByteDance 90 days to sell or be banned. In the order, Donald Trump said that there was credible evidence that ByteDance might take action that threatens the national security of the United States. So now people are racing. They're trying to buy TikTok. On August 17th, Oracle enters the race to buy TikTok operations in Canada, US, Australia and New Zealand. Then, at this point, TikTok and ByteDance are like you know what? We're not just gonna sell and do what you want us to do. We're gonna fight this. So on August 21st 2020, TikTok announces plans to file legal action against the Trump administration.

Daijné :

They argued that the order to sell was motivated by Donald Trump's efforts to boost re-election support through protectionist trade policies aimed at China. They also said that TikTok and ByteDance were deprived of due process rights under the fifth amendment that applied to foreign and domestic businesses. They said that the presidential order failed to provide evidence that TikTok was a national security threat. They also said that the order relied on a May 2019 national emergency declaration with respect to securing the information and communication technology and services supply chain, rather than involving a new emergency declaration. They said that the purported national security threat identified by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States was based on outdated news articles and did not address demonstrative data security documentation provided by TikTok. So, basically, they have provided documentation which showed that there was no national security threat and this order for it to be banned was based off of outdated news articles that were found to be baseless.

Daijné :

ByteDance pointed out that many of its top personnel, including then CEO, Kevin Mayer, was based in the US and not subject to Chinese aw, and content moderation was led by independent US-based technical staff. So then, on September 13th 2020, ByteDance tells Microsoft that it will not sell TikTok's US operations to them because Microsoft wanted to acquire TikTok's algorithm and other AI technology. So, basically, the initial deal that ByteDance had agreed to with Microsoft was that it would sell, you know, the management of US user data and different things like that. Microsoft got greedy, as these fucking billionaires do, and they also wanted the algorithm and other artificial intelligence that was connected to TikTok. So, basically, how I'm seeing it and what I think happened is it kind of became like TikTok and ByteDance were Mr. Krabs and Microsoft became Plankton and he basically was like we want your secret formula. The TikTok algorithm is so much better than algorithms on any other social media platform. Tiktok shows you what you want to see. I said this in another episode. The way that the algorithm is set up, the way that their app is set up unprecedented and they couldn't figure out how to do it. So they wanted the algorithm. So Microsoft wanted the secret formula. And ByteDance said bitch hell, no, you are not getting tickets to that show, but I love your enthusiasm.

Daijné :

And so, at this point, was ByteDance's first suggestion that it would rather shut down in the US than sell to a US company. And then, on the same day, September 13th of 2020, TikTok reported that it had chosen Oracle to sell to. So, with this, partnership ByteDance would transfer the management of TikTok's US user data to Oracle's cloud services and possibly offer it and other investors expanded minority stakes in US operations, while allowing ByteDance to keep control of TikTok's business assets and intellectual property. So, basically, ByteDance would still have the algorithm and the artificial intelligence, but Oracle would have management of US user data and it would be transferred to Oracle's cloud services. But that wasn't enough.

Daijné :

The Trump administration didn't like that deal. It wasn't good enough for them, and so, on September 18th 2020, the Associated Press reported that the US would proceed with the ban on TikTok. So the first thing that would happen would be that on September 20th 2020, you wouldn't be able to download TikTok anymore, so it would be removed from the App Store, so you wouldn't be able to find it on, you know, the apple app store, google play, any of that. And then on November 12th, it would become a complete ban and even if you had the app downloaded on your phone, you wouldn't be able to use the app. So then, one day after this report, on September 19 2020, TikTok and ByteDance filed a complaint in Washington challenging Donald Trump's administration's recent moves to prevent the app from operating in the US and said that he did it for political reasons rather than the national security threat. In response to this filed complaint, the Trump administration delayed the ban by one week, but then, on September 23rd 2020, tiktok filed a request for a preliminary injunction to prevent the ban and on September 27th, the preliminary injunction was approved by Judge Carl J Nichols.

Daijné :

Then we jump to Biden's administration, because on January 20th 2021, Trump leaves office and Biden is sworn in. So then, in June of 2021, Biden signs an executive order which revokes the Trump administration ban on TikTok and instead orders the Secretary of Commerce to investigate the app to determine if it actually poses a national security threat. And on June 25th 2021, CNBC reports that direction of approvals for all kinds of decision making come from ByteDance leadership, which is based in China, and, according to Jim Lewis, who is a strategic technologies researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "if the Chinese government wants to look at the data that ByteDance is collecting, they can do so and no one can say anything about it. Also, in 2021, there was an internal data leak released by whistleblower francis hagen from then known company facebook, which is now meta, which showed that it was aware of harmful societal effects from its platform, yet prioritized profit over addressing the harms. The report revealed the company was fully aware of negative impacts on teen users of instagram and of a contribution of Facebook activity to violence in developing countries. The leak also included the impact of the company's platform spreading false information and Facebook's policy of promoting inflammatory posts. Also, facebook was fully aware that harmful content was being pushed through Facebook algorithms reaching young users. This content included posts promoting anorexia and self-harm photos. So essentially, there was a leak by someone who worked at Facebook, basically showing that Facebook and Instagram were aware of harmful effects that were happening on their app. However, instead of addressing this harm, they prioritized money. Facebook or Meta, to my knowledge, have never faced a ban, though, so that's crazy.

Daijné :

So, following this leak, which became known as facebook files, in Cctober 2021, a bipartisan group of lawmakers pressed TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat on questions of data privacy and moderation for age appropriate content. Lawmakers questioned Michael Beckerman, who was the head of US policy a t TikTok, about a possible national security threat and whether ByteDance could expose consumer data to Beijing. During this questioning, TikTok told US lawmakers it doesn't give information to the Chinese government and that data on US users is stored in the US with backups in Singapore. A TikTok company representative also says that TikTok has no affiliation with subsidiary Beijing. Bying by dance technology, which the Chinese government has minority stake and a board seat in.

Daijné :

Then, in June of 2022, reports emerged that ByteDance employees in China could access US data and repeatedly access the private information of TikTok users. So basically, ByteDance employees in China say like hey, we do have access to your data and we can see the private information of TikTok users. Um, like what if I said I don't give a fuck, then what, like my thing, is this whole thing about like they can access our data and blah, blah, blah. I and maybe it's just because I'm ignorant and I've tried to research it and I haven't gotten an answer that I care about, but it's just like. What data? Like what are you gonna see on my phone photos of me and my dog? Like I don't, I'm not understanding why it's such a big deal if they can access our data because, mind you, facebook and Mark Zuckerberg were selling our data to China. So it's just like y'all didn't give a fuck then why do you give a fuck now? Like don't they already have our data, or some of it at least? If, if Mark Zuckerberg was selling it to them? Like I just don't understand why I should give a shit. There's nothing on my phone that they would, they would care about. And I seen this one explanation of people being like, like they can manipulate the content to essentially make US users not like America, and it's just like too late, but that's not China's fault, that's America's fault. Like I already don't trust the government, I already don't like those bitches, and that again, is not China's fault, but anyway.

Daijné :

So, following the reports that ByteDance employees in China could access user data and had seen private information on TikTok users. Tiktok announced that 100% of US user traffic would be routed to the Oracle cloud and intended to delete US users' data from their own data centers. And then, on June 24th and 28th of 2022, Federal Communications Commissioner Brendon Carr called for Google and Apple to remove TikTok from its app stores, citing a national security threat. And then, in November of 2022, senators Mark Warner and Tom Cotton called for a greater action against TikTok, and Representative Mike Gallagher announced intentions to introduce legislation to ban TikTok. In December of 2022, FBI Director Chris Wray warned about security threats posed by TikTok and, in response, South Dakota and many other states, many of which were controlled by the republican party, banned the use of TikTok on government computers and smartphones.

Daijné :

Now see, that makes sense to me. If you're so worried about the Chinese stealing our data, then ban the use of TikTok on government phones and computers. That's where they would be able to get information that actually matters, not my little phone, where I'm just have pictures of me and my dogs and my friends. Why would I care if they have those? Those are posted all over the internet anyway, so it's like why are you worried about me? I'm not a government official and, mind you, us government officials have their own accounts on TikTok. Like, be so fucking for real anyway. And and then later, in December of 2022, congress passes a bill to ban TikTok on federal devices. And again, that makes sense to me. If you're worried about a national security threat, then just don't have it on government-issued bones and computers. That's where all the important information is now Like, not on my phone.

Daijné :

And then in March of 2023 2023 Trump posted social media saying both the democrats and republicans had "come to realize that I was right regarding tiktok and it needing to be banned because it was national security threat. Of course he needed to post about it because he needs an ego boost, whatever. But then, in march of 2024, trump reverses his position on banning tiktok and advocates for the app to not be banned, while he was arguing that the app's national security and data privacy concerns still needed addressed. Banning TikTok would empower Facebook, which he labeled the enemy of the people. This announcement came after Trump had a meeting with Jeff Yass, who is a Republican donor who owns a significant stake in ByteDance. Very convenient that his switch in position comes after he has a meeting with a Republican donor who has a lot of stakes in ByteDance.

Daijné :

And then, in April of 2024, Biden signed public law 118-50, effectively banning TikTok in the US in 2025 unless sold from its parent company. Now let's talk about this law that Biden signed into effect. So bill 118-50 was introduced in the house by Kathy McMorris Rodgers, a republican from Washington, in February of 2023. The bipartisan bill included the 21st century peace through strength act, which itself included the protecting americans from foreign adversaryations Act, the act that would ban TikTok. It also included US aid for Ukraine, Israel and Gaza. So the issue with TikTok was folded into this bill with other bigger things. So I think had it been a bill all by itself, it probably wouldn't have gotten passed, but unfortunately it was folded into this bigger bill and by not signing the bill, there would have been no aid for, you know, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine. So the bill is signed into law and now we're here with the app going dark for what? 14 hours and then coming back.

Daijné :

And then today, January 20th, is what I'm filming this, Trump signed an executive order to give TikTok a 75 day extension. So since he signed this executive order and we got that stupid fuck ass message from when TikTok was restored, basically saying like thank you, President Trump, for saving TikTok. You don't get to be the hero for a problem that you started. This entire bullshit about the Chinese stealing our data started with Trump. I really need people to understand.

Daijné :

This is a classic manipulation, abusive tactic For the abuser to cause a problem, fix said problem and then be like look, I'm good for you because I fixed this problem. Mind you, I wouldn't have this problem in the first place if you had not created it, and I'm. I've gone back and forth on how I feel about Shou. I can't decide if I feel like he bent the knee and kissed the ring or if he is essentially like playing in Donald Trump's face. Because here's my thing when you're in an abusive relationship, sometimes you have to tell the abuser what they want to hear to, in some cases, stay alive. So, if we look at it through the lens of like Shou and TikTok, he wants TikTok to stay alive in the US. So is he genuinely just telling Trump what he wants to hear to boost his ego, or did he actually sell out? I don't know.

Daijné :

I've seen arguments for both sides and I can kind of see it going either way. First of all, he's a man, so I don't trust him. Second of all, he's a millionaire, so I don't trust him. But I just hope that I feel like he fought so hard and I just hope that he wouldn't switch up at the very end. But I mean, we've seen switch ups before with Snoop performing at the crypto ball. Like what the fuck that hurt me so bad seeing seeing Snoop do that.

Daijné :

But I hope that this timeline was helpful. I understand it was a lot of information and if I missed anything, please feel free to add it in the comments or anything like that. But I felt like it was important to go through the entire timeline because I need people to understand Trump is the reason this entire conversation started and you don't get to be the hero for an issue that you yourself started so I don't give a shit what they try to sell me. I don't care how much they try to make me thank Trump for bringing TikTok back. Call it a JLo concert ticket bitch. I'm not fucking buying it. Now that TikTok has been restored and Trump kind of has his hand in it.

Daijné :

I am a little bit scared for the future of the app. I definitely don't think it will be the same, even after it's only been a day at this point, when I'm filming this and the app is already not the same. I was seeing videos of people saying that you know, if you try to search up Donald Trump rigged election no videos show up for users in the US, and I've seen people in the comments of those videos being like I'm in, you know this other country and I'm searching it and I can still see everything, but if you're in the US and you search it, you can't see it. So I fear that the censorship has already started, which is why I kind of feel like maybe Shou did sell out and he's not just telling Trump what he wants to hear in order to save his app. Ugh, I hate to say it, but it could very well turn into like another Twitter or Instagram of just being heavily censored if you say anything in opposition to Elon Musk or Donald Trump, and that is a violation of free speech You're supposed to. Free speech is protection from the government. I'm trying to stay hopeful, but I also have to be realistic and I really do worry that show may have sold government. I'm trying to stay hopeful, but I also have to be realistic and I really do worry that Shou may have sold out.

Daijné :

I'm also afraid for the future of the app because Donald Trump did sign the 75 day extension but he's also talked about, you know, the US should have 50% ownership of TikTok and I really really don't want that. I really really don't. I think I think again it'll just go into us being censored and any opposition to Trump or Elon Musk. I feel like with tiktok, black creators are already censored and limited on what we can say, especially those who post, like the social issues, content like racism and homophobia and different things like that, and so with Trump's hand in it, I think the censorship is just going to go from bad to worse. So, depending on what happens with TikTok, my goal has always kind of been to get off of TikTok, just because of the censorship that it's had already with with my content and things that I say. But if Trump has his hand in it, I will be getting off TikTok sooner rather than later.

Daijné :

So I don't know, we'll have to see what happens, but I just hope that people will stay alert. Now more than ever, we need to be alert, we need to be mindful, we need to be watching because shit's getting weird. Shit's getting weird and I'm I'm so upset because I already know that so many people are gonna fall for this trump save tiktok bullshit. They did it with the stimulus checks. You know, Trump didn't even want stimulus checks to go out. He postponed them because he didn't want them and then eventually he wanted to just put his name on it so that people could be like this money came from Trump. He did it with yhe border crisis. There was a bipartisan bill and Trump called I believe it was republicans in the senate basically told them to kill the bill because he wanted to run on the promise of fixing the border. So I mean, mean, it's worked for him in the past and I'm sure it'll continue to work for him until he is able to brainwash as many people as he can.

Daijné :

But I just hope that you guys will continue to do the research and continue to look into. You know everything that's happening. Yes, TikTok is back for now, but at what cost? You know what are the changes, what's what is really going on with the app? So I will supply as much information as I can, but I also want to encourage you all to do your own research and just be vigilant and be mindful of what is happening, because shit's getting weird and shit's only going to continue to get weirder. Ok, I feel like I've said everything I need to say on this topic, so I'm done talking now. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode. I hope everyone is having a good day, except for that orange drink lady, and I will see you guys in the next episode. Peace and love. Talk to you later. The Napkin in Between, hosted by Daijné Jones, produced by Daijné Jones, post-production by Daijné Jones, music by Sam Champagne and graphics by Isma Vidal.