A little-known former CIA officer was sentenced to ten years in prison last year for espionage on behalf of China. Alexander Yuk Ching Ma confessed to an undercover FBI agent regarding his sale of U.S. information to the Chinese government.

Convincing CIA members to compromise their country isn’t the only method the Chinese government uses to gather information about the U.S. and its citizens.

ByteDance, a firm linked to the Chinese government, runs TikTok, which captures the data of 170 million enthusiastic American users.

Even more concerning, FBI Director Chris Wray testified before Congress that TikTok represents a threat to national security because the Chinese government could exploit the app to disseminate propaganda and misleading information to users in America. There is even a risk that China could use TikTok as a means to gain unauthorized access to Americans’ phones and devices.

Last year, Congress enacted legislation, which President Joe Biden signed, that prohibits TikTok in the United States unless its parent company ByteDance sells it by January 19. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on whether this ban is constitutional on Friday.

Considering the danger it poses, I’m taken aback by the significant number of Americans, including President-elect Donald Trump, who endorse TikTok’s ongoing operation in the U.S.

TikTok is a national security risk

Critics of the law argue that the federal government infringes on Americans’ First Amendment rights, penalizing one social media giant while favoring others.

However, the argument against TikTok is compelling, and the Supreme Court ought to uphold the law that mandates the app to sever ties with its China-based parent company, or it will be barred from app stores and internet hosting services in the U.S.

The movement to ban TikTok enjoys bipartisan backing, including support from former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who served during Trump’s first term.

John F. Plumb, the chief cyber adviser to the Defense Secretary, calls TikTok a “potential threat vector” to America. In a 2023 statement before a House Armed Services subcommittee, Plumb indicated that China might leverage TikTok to disseminate misinformation and compile vast amounts of data on Americans.

Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, leader of U.S. Cyber Command, also voiced concerns regarding the app: “With one-third of adults getting their news from this platform, and one-sixth of our youth reporting constant usage, it gives a foreign nation a medium for information operations, surveillance, and raises issues regarding data control.”

Congress deemed TikTok such a significant threat that legislation to restrict its use passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support, recording 352 votes in favor of the ban, and only 65 against it.

TikTok is indoctrinating our youth

While other well-known social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram also face criticism for their data collection practices and enabling predatory behavior, there is substantial evidence indicating that TikTok aggressively promotes pro-China content to young Americans who devote significant hours to the application. Research from Rutgers University’s Network Contagion Research Institute highlights the reality of fears that China could use TikTok to sway American youth.

Joel Finkelstein, one of the institute’s cofounders and chief science officer, informed The Free Press that their study demonstrates “TikTok is actively shaping how Americans perceive China and the Chinese Communist Party through its algorithmic bias.”

Through TikTok, China aims to alter American perspectives on the nation, presenting a more favorable view of its human rights record while minimizing negative information about events such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident and the inhumane treatment of Uyghurs.

Trump’s stance on TikTok is misguided

The Supreme Court is poised to balance First Amendment rights against the potential risk to national security. If federal attorneys can substantiate that TikTok represents a genuine threat, they may successfully influence the conservative justices, who are Strong advocates of the First Amendment should join the cause.

I believe that the United States has a significant interest in preventing any foreign government, or any company that is partly owned by a foreign government, from disseminating propaganda to millions of Americans via their personal devices.

In defense of the TikTok ban, the Justice Department stated: “The First Amendment did not require our nation to accept Soviet ownership and control of American radio stations (or other communication methods and essential infrastructure) during the Cold War, and it doesn’t require us to accept TikTok’s ownership and control by a foreign adversary today.”

This is one of the few situations where I find myself in agreement with the Biden administration rather than Trump, who requested that the court postpone enforcing the law so that the new president could seek “a political resolution.”

Trump, on Truth Social, disclosed his true motivation for opposing the TikTok ban. He shared a graphic demonstrating his popularity on the platform.

Similar to X, TikTok experiences a mix of accurate and misleading information, controversies, and conspiracies. It’s a chaotic environment, but Trump seems unconcerned as long as he remains popular there.

Trump had a prime opportunity to prioritize America but instead chose to focus on his own popularity. This is not unexpected, but it is disappointing.