TikTok is pushing back against US attempts to ban the video-sharing app by calling out what it claims is the larger threat to the country: Facebook.
On Wednesday, TikTok’s new CEO Kevin Mayer accused Facebook of using copycat products and fake patriotism to stamp out the video-sharing app’s influence.
“Let’s focus our energies on fair and open competition in service of our consumers, rather than maligning attacks by our competitor—namely Facebook—disguised as patriotism and designed to put an end to our very presence in the US,” Mayer wrote in an 800-word blog post.
Mayer, a former Disney executive, published the post as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before Congress today on the company’s market dominance in the tech industry. In his prepared remarks, Zuckerberg will tell US lawmakers that Facebook is a “proudly American company,” but that China’s authoritarian internet industry is expanding across the world and poses a threat.
In an October speech, Zuckerberg also took a direct shot at TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance. “While our services, like WhatsApp, are used by protesters and activists everywhere due to strong encryption and privacy protections, on TikTok, the Chinese app growing quickly around the world, mentions of these protests are censored, even in the US,” Zuckerberg said. “Is that the internet we want?”
However, TikTok says the real problem facing the internet industry is a lack of transparency among the major companies. “TikTok has become the latest target, but we are not the enemy,” Mayer said. “The bigger move is to use this moment to drive deeper conversations around algorithms, transparency, and content moderation, and to develop stricter rules of the road.”
(Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
“That’s why we believe all companies should disclose their algorithms, moderation policies, and data flows to regulators,” he added. TikTok has begun to lift the curtain around its internal processes with a new transparency center; the facility is based in Los Angeles and will allow outside experts to observe the company’s content-moderation processes in real time. Although the center’s opening has been delayed to COVID-19, Mayer said: “This puts us a step ahead of the industry, and we encourage others to follow suit.”
In the same blog post, Mayer also implied banning TikTok would only give Facebook more power. “Without TikTok, American advertisers would again be left with few choices. Competition would dry up and so too will an outlet for America’s creative energy. We are not political, we do not accept political advertising and have no agenda,” he said.
Whether Mayer’s blog post sways the Trump administration is another matter. Currently, the White House is mulling whether to ban Chinese-made social media apps in the US. Joe Biden’s campaign also reportedly told staff to delete TikTok from their phones. The main concern is over the Chinese government using apps like TikTok to secretly collect personal data on millions of Americans. However, TikTok say it poses no threat to US national security and plans on proving it.
“For our skeptics, I am confident we have the answers and where we do not, we will improve,” Mayer added. “The onus is on us to step up. We are doing so, and will continue to take the bold steps needed. I accept and appreciate the challenge.”
However, the Indian government hasn’t been convinced. Last month, the country banned TikTok and dozens of other Chinese mobile apps, citing the alleged spying threat.
