Dangers of Tiktok

Just last month, House Rep. Benny Abante Jr. proposed a ban on social media platform TikTok and other applications from potential foreign adversary countries in a bid to protect Filipinos.

The proposal is contained in Abante’s House Bill 10489 which aims to regulate foreign adversary controlled applications and the app stores and internet hosting services through which users access them.

According to Abante, TikTok has 49.9 million active users in the Philippines. Its parent company, ByteDance, has a connection to the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government that cannot be overlooked, he said.

The lawmaker noted that TikTok collects personal data from unsuspecting users and subscribers which is alarming as TikTok can easily transmit these data to the Chinese government.

He emphasized that with the rising tensions between China and the Philippines, our government must take positive preemptive action to ensure that its citizens are protected from manipulation and misinformation campaigns using social media by foreign adversary countries.

His proposed Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Regulation Act seeks to prohibit app stores and internet hosting services from enabling the distribution, maintenance or updating of a foreign adversary-controlled application.

It defines a foreign adversary-controlled application as a website, desktop or mobile application, or augmented or immersive technology application that is operated directly or indirectly by a covered company that is controlled by a foreign adversary and that is determined by the president to present a significant threat to the national security of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, HB 10489 defines a foreign adversary country as any country identified by the chief executive as having interests adversarial to that of the Philippines, in terms of threats to national security and our territorial integrity.

Several countries have already enacted legislation that will regulate or even ban TikTok. India for one imposed a nationwide ban on TikTok and other Chinese apps like the messaging app WeChat over privacy and security concerns.  Other countries have followed including Australia, Belgium, Canada,