TikTok: National Security, Protection of Minors, or Other Concerns?

抖音：国家安全、未成年人保护，还是其他担忧？

Dr. Mei Gechlik, Founder and CEO of SINOTALKS^®, was quoted in this article published by China Daily.  In the same article, Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky reportedly stated, “Reactionaries who want to ban TikTok claim the data can’t be secured because the ‘algorithm’ is in China.  Not true.  The truth is the algorithm runs in the U.S. in oracle cloud with their review of the code.”

This suggests that the proposed TikTok ban is not due to national security concerns.  Nor is it driven by the need to protect minors; otherwise, other problematic social media platforms should also be banned.  The U.S. Senate needs to consider what the TikTok ban is really about.

《中国日报》发表的这篇文章引用了丝络谈™创始人兼首席执行官熊美英博士的一些见解。同时，该报道也指出肯塔基州共和党参议员兰德·保罗表示，“想要禁止抖音的反动人士声称无法确保数据安全，因为‘算法’在中国。不对。事实上，该算法在美国的 Oracle 云中运行，并由他们对代码进行审查。”

这意味着拟议的抖音禁令并非出于国家安全考虑。它也不是出于保护未成年人的需要，否则其他有问题的社交媒体平台也应该被禁止。美国参议院需要考虑抖音禁令的真正含义。