WARNING! Don't even think about forming an opinion on TIKTOK until you've read this.

António Sousa Rêgo (freelance copywriter)

“TikTok is a threat to democracy” – Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.

Politics, technology, big data, social networks and TikTok. What are we to make of it all?

António Sousa Rêgo (freelance copywriter)

“TikTok is a threat to democracy” – Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.

Politics, technology, big data, social networks and TikTok. What are we to make of it all?

Power structures have always existed. The totalitarian authoritarian states of the twentieth century used armies, schools and the media to monitor, censor and control the population. The power of the MEDIA has always been known. In the twenty-first century we have social media.

So just how powerful are social networks? Are we being watched, censored and controlled around the clock by an authoritarian sovereign state? Are we living in the dystopian society George Orwell described in his famous thriller 1984?

“Facebook is so pissed that TikTok is the one thing they can’t beat that they’ve turned to geopolitical arguments and lawmakers in Washington to fight their fight,” a former senior Facebook employee told BuzzFeed. Are we watching a battle between Facebook and TikTok, or between CHINA and the USA?

It's worth pointing out that Facebook is blocked in China, and that China doesn't allow the use of other American apps such as Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Google. It's equally worth pointing out that TikTok has already been deemed a threat by the US government, and that it was banned from smartphones issued by the government to US Navy personnel.

A US Navy spokesperson has also commented on the matter, saying the app poses a potential threat. What exactly is the threat worrying the US armed forces? What is the American government concerned about? How powerful are SOCIAL NETWORKS?

Before answering those questions, let's talk about TikTok itself.

… It's the seventh most downloaded app since 2010. TikTok is now the FOURTH largest social network in the world, with 1.5 billion monthly users. It's available in 155 countries, with China the largest market (500M).

TikTok is an app for creating and sharing short videos. It came out of a merger with Musical.ly, which was more music-focused. In this new combination of video and music, TikTok took on the weight of a social network. TikTok was the third most downloaded app in the WORLD in 2019, behind WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. The app is posting exponential growth figures and is the seventh most downloaded app since 2010. TikTok is now the FOURTH largest social network in the world, with 1.5 billion monthly users. It's available in 155 countries, with China the largest market (500M).

Which brands are on TikTok?

The NBA, The Washington Post, Guess, Calvin Klein and The San Diego Zoo, among others. In Portugal? Brands such as TVI and Benfica have TikTok accounts. Havas Media has already run a campaign using TikTok. The agency used the network to promote the Portuguese release of Disney's “Aladdin”. It's well known that every app we use collects our data.

How powerful is that data? How powerful are social networks?

If there's an American dream, there also had to be a nightmare. Right now, TikTok is the American nightmare.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal proved that powers such as electing a president, or taking a country out of the European Union, are not beyond the influence of social networks. During that scandal, the company admitted to having acquired 5,000 different types of data on 230M American voters from Facebook.

#‘The Great Hack’: Cambridge Analytica is just the tip of the iceberg” By Joe Westby, AI and Big Data Researcher, Amnesty Tech

Facebook and Cambridge Analytica were in the spotlight throughout this scandal, but big data researcher Joe Westby points out that it's only the tip of the iceberg. Are there other companies capable of collecting, storing and analysing data so extensively that they become able to spy on, censor and control entire populations? Yes. Among them Amazon, IBM and Google. This is nothing new. Edward Snowden had already drawn attention to how these powers have been used.

So why is TikTok different? Because TikTok is a Chinese app.

If there's an American dream, there also had to be a nightmare.

Right now, TikTok is the American nightmare. On the one hand, Mark Zuckerberg, who came from humble beginnings and managed to become the fifth richest man in the world (thereby living out the American dream), now finds himself facing an extremely uncomfortable reality. Zuckerberg couldn't buy the app. He tried to build an app (Lasso) with the same features as TikTok, but without success, and he can't get into the Chinese market. Having failed to buy it, failed to enter the Chinese market and failed to destroy the competition with a similar tool, Zuckerberg has moved on to a more aggressive rhetoric about “freedom of expression”, the values of a free and fair society, censorship and data encryption. Zuckerberg goes on to say that these are the main reasons why he doesn't operate in China.

TikTok is a nightmare for Facebook, and for the USA.

For the average user, TikTok is an app combining music, short videos and a sense of humour that couldn't be more fun or more harmless. For digital marketing agencies, TikTok is a tool that in the near future could be used to communicate and advertise. For business owners, the app could be one more channel for communication and sales.

Don't let yourself fall behind, be manipulated or be controlled. Keep up with the latest trends and stay informed about the tech sector, about social networks, and about the global and political implications of these constant changes. JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJmYi1jb21tZW50cyUyMiUyMGRhdGEtaHJlZiUzRCUyMmh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGd3d3LmplbGx5Y29kZS5wdCUyRm1hcmtldGluZy1kaWdpdGFsJTJGYXZpc28tbmVtLXBlbnNlLWVtLWZvcm1hci11bWEtb3Bpbmlhby1zb2JyZS1vLXRpa3Rvay1lbnF1YW50by1uYW8tbGVyLWlzdG8lMjIlMjBkYXRhLXdpZHRoJTNEJTIyMTAwJTI1JTIyJTIwZGF0YS1udW1wb3N0cyUzRCUyMjEwJTIyJTNFJTNDJTJGZGl2JTNF