In March, the TikTok CEO will testify before Congress

Defending Nuclear Warfare in the 21st Century: How the U.S. Cybersecurity Threat Emerges and Can It Be Learned

“We’re disappointed that Congress has moved to ban TikTok on government devices—a political gesture that will do nothing to advance national security interests—rather than encouraging the Administration to conclude its national security review,” said Brooke Oberwetter, a TikTok spokesperson.

US officials have raised concerns that the Chinese government could pressure ByteDance to hand over information collected from users that could be used for intelligence or disinformation purposes. Independent security experts have said that this type of access is a possibility, though there hasn’t been an incident of it yet.

As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, Ukrainian forces have been able to counter Kremlin forces. But as the conflict evolves, it is entering an ominous phase of drone warfare. Russia has begun launching a series of recent attacks using Iranian “suicide drones” to inflict damage that is difficult to defend against. With Russian president Vladimir Putin escalating his rhetoric about the potential for a nuclear strike, and NATO officials watching closely for any signs of movement, we examine what indicators are available to the global community in assessing whether Russia is actually preparing to use nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, an unrelenting string of deeply problematic vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s Exchange Server on-premises email hosting service has left researchers to raise the alarm that the platform isn’t getting the development resources it needs anymore, and customers should seriously consider migrating to cloud email hosting. New research explores how the custodians of the crowdsourced encyclopedia ferret out state- sponsored misinformation in its entries.

If you’re worried about the ongoing threat of ransomware attacks around the world, researchers pointed out this week that middle-of-the-pack groups like the notorious gang Vice Society are maximizing profits and minimizing their exposure by investing very little in technical innovation. They don’t run many operations to target under-funded sectors like health care and education. If you’re looking to do something for your personal security, we’ve got a guide to ditching passwords and setting up “passkeys” on Android and Google Chrome.

What are we missing? More on Microsoft Cloud Misconfigurations and the Threat Intelligence Firm’s e-Security Alert

But wait, there’s more! We highlight the news that we didn’t cover in-depth. Click on the headlines below to read the full stories. Stay safe.

Microsoft said this week that a misconfiguration exposed the data of some prospective customers of its cloud services. On September 24, researchers from the threat intelligence firm revealed the leak and the company quickly closed it. The exposed information was as far back as last year and up to August of this year according to the report. The researchers linked the data to more than 65,000 organizations from 111 countries. Microsoft said the exposed details included names, company names, phone numbers, email addresses, email content, and files sent between potential customers and Microsoft or one of its authorized partners. Cloud misconfigurations are a longstanding security risk that have led to countless exposures and, sometimes, breaches.

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-bytedance-americans-data-security-roundup/

The U.S. Internet of Things Security Label: Emerging Security Challenges and State-of-the-Art in the Context of Community Surveillance

There are no easy answers to improve the longstanding security dumpster fire created by cheap, undefended internet of things devices in homes and businesses around the world. After a number of problems, some countries like Germany and Singapore have added security labels to internet-connected cameras. The labels give consumers a better understanding of the protections built into different devices—and give manufacturers an incentive to improve their practices and get a gold seal. The United States took a step in the right direction this week. A labeling scheme for the Internet of Things was announced by the White House. The administration held a summit with industry organizations and companies this week to discuss standards and guidelines for the labels. “A labeling program to secure such devices would provide American consumers with the peace of mind that the technology being brought into their homes is safe, and incentivize manufacturers to meet higher cybersecurity standards, and retailers to market secure devices,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

The FBI seized documents from the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida because they contained information related to Tehran’s nuclear program and the US’s intel operation in China, according to sources. Experts say that unauthorized disclosures of specific information in the documents pose multiple risks. People aiding US intelligence efforts could be endangered, and collection methods could be compromised,” the Post wrote. The information could also potentially motivate retaliation by other countries against the US.

Open internet proponents were relieved last month when an American candidate beat a Russian challenger in an election to run the International Telecommunications Union, an important international standards body tasked with cross-boundary communications. Meanwhile, though, we took a look at the fragility of the world’s internet infrastructure and the vulnerability of crucial undersea cables.

Researchers see evidence that the US’s new legal climate for abortion access is promoting a culture of community surveillance, a hallmark of authoritarian states in which neighbors and friends are encouraged to report possible wrongdoing. Soccer stadiums in many parts of the world are being monitored. The eight stadiums in use during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, for example, will be packed with more than 15,000 cameras to monitor spectators and to conduct biometric scanning.

Towards a more secure universe: Liz Truss’s revelation of a Russian cell phone attack and its implications for public opinion and government policy

The more secure, “memory safe” programming language Rust is making inroads across the tech industry, offering hope that a massive swath of common vulnerabilities could eventually be preempted and eliminated. In the meantime, we’ve got a roundup of the most important vulnerabilities that you can—and should!—patch right now.

Liz Truss is having a rough time. Soon after her historically brief stint as the UK prime minister, the Mail on Sunday reported that agents working on behalf of Russia had hacked her personal cell phone when she was foreign minister. The Russians allegedly were allowed to intercept messages between Truss and officials in other countries. The Mail report further claims that former prime minister Boris Johnson and cabinet secretary Simon Case suppressed the breach. While the breach remains unconfirmed, Labor Party officials are calling for an “urgent investigation” into their Conservative opponents. “There are immensely important national security issues raised by an attack like this by a hostile state which will have been taken extremely seriously by our intelligence and security agencies,” Labor Party shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said last weekend. “There are also serious security questions around why and how this information has been leaked or released right now, which must also be urgently investigated.”

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-eu-privacy-policy-security-roundup/

The Jack Dorsey Story: Social Media and Politics in the Geel’gin and the Black-Hole: The Case for a Fair Trading Law

The corporate creations of Jack Dorsey are facing new scrutiny this week. According to a Forbes investigation, the Cash App is helping fuel sex traffic in the US and elsewhere. The investigation found that the Cash App was used to commit sex-trafficking, rape and other crimes. The company, which is owned by Block Inc., is dedicated to working with law enforcement and doesn’t tolerate illegal activity on the Cash App. Meanwhile, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says that although rival payment platforms like PayPal provide the the center with tips about potential child abuse facilitated by their services, Forbes writes, “Block hasn’t provided any tips, ever.”

In the last two years, there has been a 200 percent increase in the amount of US financial institutions facilitating payments for the malicious software. There is a global White House summit aiming to combat the rise of Ransomware, which can be used by attackers to hold victims hostage until they pay a sum of money. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network acting director said that malicious software, including attacks by Russian-linked actors, remain a serious threat to our national and economic security. Billion of dollars in payments is not enough to take into account the costs and other consequences of a cyberattack outside of the payment itself.

The legislation mentions TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, as social media companies. Rubio and one of the House sponsors of the bill, Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, had indicated their intention to introduce the bill in a Washington Post op-ed last month.

US lawmakers have worried for years about the ability of hostile foreign governments—particularly Russia and China—to spread misinformation and subvert US elections via social media. Privacy concerns, not necessarily rational, led to calls for the banning of the Chinese social media app TikTok. Senators tell WIRED they worry about what antagonistic governments could learn from recent events in the financial system.

The pressure on Congress to act has been increased recently with many states jumping on the bandwagon. More than a dozen states have now banned TikTok on state government devices, from Maryland to South Dakota.

This is not an issue of national origin. All global companies face common challenges that need to be addressed through safeguards and transparency. I am excited to continue having conversations with the U.S. government about making TikTok even better, I am proud that they are taking the lead in this area.

Zoom Call on TikTok: A White House Perspective on the U.S. National Security Agency in a Scenario of the Ukraine Crisis

McQuaide said they would brief members of congress on the plans that had been developed under the oversight of our country’s top national security agencies.

TheReliable Sources newsletter had a version of this article. The evolving media landscape can be seen in the daily digest.

But its widespread usage across the U.S. is alarming government officials. Christopher Wray raised eyebrows when he told lawmakers the app could be used to control users’ devices.

The bill would allow exceptions for law enforcement, national security interests and activities.

TikTok is used by over 100 million monthly active users in the U.S., and it’s ability to create instant hits has put it at the forefront of internet culture, despite concerns about data security.

On March 10, two weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House convened a Zoom call with 30 prominent TikTok creators. Jen Psaki, then the White House press secretary, and members of the National Security Council staff briefed the creators, who together had tens of millions of followers, on the latest news from the conflict and the White House’s goals and priorities. The meeting followed a similar effort the previous summer, in which the White House recruited dozens of TikTokers to help encourage young people to get vaccinated against Covid.

TikTok, Google, Twitter, and the House Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. Is Not a Social Media Agent of China

If information is ever sought, China-based businesses usually have to give unfettered access to the authoritarian regime and that is something the company denies.

Most drastic measures have not advanced due to the lack of political will or courts stopping them.

“I think some concern about TikTok is warranted,” said Julian McAuley, a professor of computer science at the University of California San Diego, who noted that the main difference between TikTok and other social media apps is that TikTok is much more driven by user-specific recommendations.

According to testimony released Tuesday night by the House committee, ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country.

“While social media companies are certainly harvesting all kinds of data about users, I think it’s usually overblown to what extent they ‘know’ about users on an individual level,” he said.

The committee could either ban TikTok or force the sale of the app to an American company, something the Chinese government will likely oppose, as it did when a sale of the app was floated during the Trump years.

Another possible resolution is that the committee is satisfied with the steps TikTok has taken to ensure there is a firewall between U.S. user data and ByteDance employees in Beijing and the Chinese government.

Behind closed doors, deliberations of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US are famously secretive. It is not clear when the committee might finish its investigation, nor is it known which way it is leaning.

Some state-run public universities blocked or banned the application from being used on their campuses recently, as at least 14 states had previously banned the application from being used on government devices.

China has a law that requires Chinese companies to give any customer information relevant to the country’s national security. More user data is collected by TikTok than any other social media app. There is no evidence that this information has ever been turned over to the Chinese government. Yet in an episode that revealed the possibility of future government interference, ByteDance itself admitted in December that it had fired some China and U.S.-based employees for wrongfully snooping on American’s private information, including that of journalists, collected through TikTok.

When it comes to its own citizens, China has prohibited everything from Google to Twitter to this newspaper. Rather than viewing that asymmetry as unfair, we should recognize its symbolic value: America wins when it can show the world that it’s an open and democratic country. The banning of TikTok is more similar to China’s actions to protect itself than it is to other nations. It is not certain that the federal government can restrict access to a significant communications platform under the First amendment or that it can control online content so as to prevent misinformation. And then there’s the political question of whether TikTok’s estimated 100 million American fans will allow it to be taken away from them.

“It certainly makes sense, then, for U.S. soldiers to be told, ‘Hey, don’t use the app because it might share your location information with other entities,” said Chander. “But that’s also true of the weather app and then lots of other apps that are existing in your phone, whether they’re owned by China or not.”

Ryan Calo is a professor at the University of Washington. He says that, while data privacy in the United States still needs much improvement, the proposed legislation is more about geopolitical tensions and less about TikTok specifically.

TikTok is the threat today that everyone is talking about, and how it could help the Chinese Communist Party conduct espionage or spread influence in the U.S. Warner said in a statement Tuesday that before TikTok, it was other companies that threatened the nation’s telecommunications networks. We aren’t playing Whac-A-Mole and scrambling to catch up once they are already ubiquitous because we need a comprehensive, risk-based approach that tackles proactively sources of potentially dangerous technology.

He says that it is easy to say that a foreign government is a threat, and that they will protect you from it. “And I think we should be a little cautious about how that can be politicized in a way that far exceeds the actual threat in order to achieve political ends.”

Tech giants face challenges in fast-tracking bills like ByteDance and AICOA: On the extent of lobbying against TikTok’s server reorganization

Another major concern of lawmakers is how TikTok could influence an entire generation of young people, since TikTok has become something of a cultural mainstay for internet commentary, comedy and political expression.

“I think that we’re right in the United States to be finally thinking about the consequences of having so much commercial surveillance taking place of U.S. citizens and residents,” he said. “And we should do something to address it, but not in this ad hoc posturing way, but by passing comprehensive privacy rules or laws, which is something that, for example, the Federal Trade Commission seems very interested in doing.”

But in fast-tracking the bill, Congress can’t help but draw attention to its notable lack of progress on regulating American tech giants more broadly — despite years of reports, hearings and proposed legislation.

The stark difference between the two shows how easy it is for lobbyists to make or break a bill. It also hints at how a select few Big Tech companies continue to maintain their dominance in the market and their centrality in the lives of countless US households.

A TikTok official said that China-based employees wouldn’t be able to access American accounts under the new server reorganization.

“We think a lot of the concerns are maybe overblown,” Beckerman told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday, “but we do think these problems can be solved” through the ongoing government negotiations.

ByteDance spent $270,000 on lobbyists in the year 2019, according to public records gathered by the transparency group Open Secrets. By the end of last year, its lobbyist count had more than doubled and the company had spent nearly $5.2 million on lobbying.

Last year, the internet industry lobbying giant had a spending of up to 20 million dollars. Next was Amazon at $19 million, then Google at almost $10 million. $50 million was spent on lobbying by TikTok’s parent, but still at number four on the list.

For much of this year, supporters of AICOA insisted the legislation had enough votes to pass, and they called on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to bring it to a floor vote. But between intense tech lobbying and doubts about whether the bill did in fact have the votes, it never received the floor time its supporters wanted. The same fate also await other antitrust bills, such as one that would have forced Apple to allow users to download iPhone apps from any website.

A bill that would have forced Meta and other websites to pay news organizations a bigger share of ad revenues failed to become law this month. The legislation stumbled after Meta warned of the consequences if the bill passed.

Putting Tech Startups on the Map: The Case for Social Media Research and Teaching in the Era of Corrupt Practice and Government Perturbation

Silicon Valley’s big players have successfully defended their turf in Washington in the past.

The future of the internet and small businesses in particular have been put in doubt by the decisions about the rules government might impose on tech platforms.

In some cases, as with proposals to revise the tech industry’s decades-old content moderation liability shield, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, legislation may raise First Amendment issues as well as partisan divisions. Democrats have said Section 230 should be changed because it gives social media companies a pass to leave some hate speech and offensive content unaddressed, while Republicans have called for changes to the law so that platforms can be pressured to remove less content.

The cross-cutting politics and the technical challenges of regulating an entire sector of technology, not to mention the potential consequences for the economy of screwing it up, have combined to make it genuinely difficult for lawmakers to reach an accord.

Establishing a Republican brand is important. A central tenet of what unites Republicans now is taking a strong stance [and] standing up to China,” says Thad Kousser, professor of political science at U.C. San Diego.

Social media research and teaching have become staples in academia and higher education curriculums. The app has fundamentally changed the nature of modern communication with its aesthetics, practices, storytelling, and information-sharing.

From an educational standpoint, how are media and communications professors supposed to train students to be savvy content creators and consumers if we can’t teach a pillar of the modern media landscape? While students can certainly still access TikTok within the privacy of their own homes, professors can no longer put TikToks into PowerPoint slides or show TikTok links via classroom web browser. Brands, companies, and novel forms of storytelling all rely on TikTok, and professors will no longer be able to train their students in best practices for these purposes. Additionally, TikTok makes parts of the world more accessible, as students can see the things they are learning about in real time.

The world is turning and the states that are implementing their bans are leaving their citizens disadvantaged. Additionally, media and communications students in the states will be at a disadvantage in applying for jobs, showcasing communicative and technical mastery, and brand and storytelling skills, as their peers from other states will be able to receive education and training.

Research is also done by professors. If these bans persist, social media scholars in these states will be unable to do the work they have been hired to do. While university compliance offices have said the bans may only be on campus Wi-Fi and mobile data is still allowed, who will foot that bill for one to pay for a more expensive data plan on their phone? No one has been asked the answer. While working at home does remain an option, professors are also employees who are expected to be on campus regularly to show they are in fact working. It will be difficult for any social media Professor to research TikTok on campus, because they will have to rely on video streaming via mobile data, which can be quite expensive, or accidentally going over one’s limits.

There have been several media appearances by Chew in the last few weeks, amid increasing scrutiny of TikTok. Chew is set to testify on Thursday for the first time before a Congressional committee about “TikTok’s consumer privacy and data security practices, the platforms’ impact on kids, and its relationship with the Chinese Communist Party,” according to a statement last week from the committee. Meanwhile, federal officials are now demanding the app’s Chinese owners sell their stake in the social media platform, or risk facing a US ban of the app.

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Mark Warner, was considering a bill that would ban other apps that pose security risks, according to a report.

The app was under scrutiny when the former president signed an executive order to ban it, but ByteDance sued and it never went through.

Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in guidance issued Monday that all executive agencies, and those they contract with, must delete any application from TikTok or its parent company, ByteDance, within 30 days of the notice, with few exceptions. Within 90 days, agencies need to have in their contracts a rule that the short-form video app can not be used on devices and must cancel any contracts that necessitate the app’s use.

The CEO of Global Cyber Strategies, which was invited to be briefed on Project Texas, said that it was life or death for TikTok. They are doing everything they can to solve the problem.

Trudeau said he thinks that as the government tells employees they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones many Canadians will reflect on the security of their own data and make choices.

The impact of the Indian-based TikTok blockade on the U.S. tech ecosystem and what it will look like when China takes action

Although it has a similar relationship with the US, Apple has a lot to lose. Cook has been credited with a lot of Apple’s success because of his relationships with the Chinese government and manufacturers.

Washington is expected to take action. Mira Ricardel, former White House deputy national security adviser now at the Chertoff Group advising businesses on regulations, says that this year will see limitations. There is a clear point of view that will lead to action. Here is what that something may look like.

The India’s TikTok blockade is not easy to break. NetBlocks states that there are a few small ISPs that allow access. And Ram Sundara Raman, lead developer for the University of Michigan’s Censored Planet project, says he was able to watch videos during a visit to India using the app he had downloaded in the US. However the ban has forced many indian users to go to other services, like Google and Facebook, which has caused problems for the people who built businesses on TikTok.

After the order was put in place, app stores would not distribute TikTok, and cloud providers and internet infrastructure services wouldn’t do business with the company. There could have been fines or jail time for people caught avoiding the order. Ivan Kanapathy is the vice president of policy at Beacon Global Strategies, and he said that they wanted to start at the root of the problem.

In recent weeks, the company has launched a charmoffensive that included a rapid-fire meeting with TikTok CEO, a tour of its Los Angeles campus to members of the media, and new transparency tools on the app.

Adam Segal is a Chinese technology policy expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. “It’s a desire to show toughness on China,” he said.

There is a lot of resentment towards social media, and because of that it is easier to destroy it on Chinese-owned TikTok right now than it is.

Now, all U.S. user traffic is routed through Oracle’s servers, according to TikTok officials, who also spelled out how Oracle engineers will be able to inspect all of TikTok’s source code, including the powerful algorithm that determines how videos go viral. A third party monitor is going to look at TikTok’s data and program in the event that Oracle misses anything.

USDS is expected to hire 2,500 people who have undergone high-level background checks similar to those used by the U.S. government, TikTok officials said on Tuesday. None of the people hired would be from China.

Aggregate data like which videos are popular in which regions and what kind of content is on the app can be used by corporate employees in Beijing who need permission from the U.S data security team.

Project Texas: A Study of the Security Risks of a TikTok-Based Machine Learning Algorithm at the Large Hadron Collider

The plan addresses many of the major security concerns U.S. officials have, said Jim Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, but that is no guarantee it will be approved.

“The Oracle plan would work,” Lewis said. It is pretty standard. TikTok has become so emotional, however, that a reasonable solution may not be enough.”

A sale would face significant challenges, starting with a steep price tag that few tech firms could afford. TikTok is probably worth a lot of money. Then there are the legal challenges that a forced divestiture would likely trigger. Segal said that selling TikTok could be considered a violation of China’s export control laws.

Assuming the deal passes muster, though, Segal agreed that it resolves the bulk of the data security concerns by allowing inspections of its algorithm and transferring U.S. user data to Oracle.

Many details about Project Texas have been published in publications such as the New York Times, but Tuesday’s gathering marked the first time that the company gave an official presentation on the plan.

TikTok’s Transparency and Accountability Center: What do journalists really want to know about the U.S. government? A senator’s response to Rubio

On Tuesday, TikTok officials led journalists through its Transparency and Accountability Center, which felt something like an interactive public relations museum.

Then there was a game of sorts that put people in the position of a TikTok content moderator, where they decided if a video violated TikTok’s rules or not.

Visitors who sign non-disclosure agreements will be able to review TikTok’s entire source code, but journalists are not given an opportunity to do this.

The content moderation game brought home how hard it is for people to agree on the right amount of video for their website, but it was mostly beside the point.

“We hope that by sharing details of our comprehensive plans with the full Committee, Congress can take a more deliberative approach to the issues at hand,” the TikTok spokesperson added.

What would prevent you from weaponizing data if you wanted to fly a balloon over the continental airspace and have people see it? Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, asked if the app on the phone of 60 million Americans could be used to influence political debate.

“There’s no question about the fact that they are trying to gather as much data as they can about all aspects of our country, and even the most minuscule, small items can add up to providing them with more data,” says Republican senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota. “There’s a huge amount of data out there, which will never be touched, never be used, but it’s the small pieces that add up. They are working it. They are patient. But they clearly see us as a threat, and they’re collecting data.”

“None of the suggested … efforts were particularly relevant to my concerns,” senator Michael Bennet, a Democrat of Colorado, told congressional reporters after hosting Chew in his office last week.

Privacy and Security of Mobile Video-Sharing Apps: Implications for Digital Banking and Wall-Centric Business Efforts

Canada said Monday that it was banning the Chinese-owned video-sharing app from all of its mobile devices.

Last week Canada’s federal privacy watchdog and itsprovincial counterparts in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec announced an investigation into whether the app complies with Canadian privacy legislation.

Recent media reports have also raised concerns about potential Chinese interference in recent Canadian elections, prompting opposition parties to call for a public inquiry into alleged foreign election interference.

“It’s not only the fact that you can influence something, but you can also turn off the message as well when you have such a large population of listeners,” Gen. Paul Nakasone said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Our status has been debated publicly in a manner that ignores the facts of our agreement and what has already been achieved. We will continue to do our part to deliver a comprehensive national security plan for the American people,” Brooke Oberwetter from TikTok said in statement.

A bipartisan Senate bill that Virginia Democrat Mark Warner and South Dakota Republican John Thune are expected to unveil on Tuesday would give the Commerce Department authority to develop “mitigation measures,” up to and including a ban, to meet the risk posed by foreign-linked technologies.

Like the US government push to ban hardware and other gear made by Huawei, another Chinese technology giant, US officials are often short on specifics when asked to show public proof of collusion between the Chinese government and ByteDance.

“People are always looking for the smoking gun in these technologies,” NSA Cybersecurity Director Rob Joyce told reporters in December. I think it’s a loaded gun.

A group of US senators are demanding information from tech experts and intelligence officials, but only one of them is by the name of Kaine. Legislators worry that the US financial system could be at risk of social media-generated bank runs and that fake news could be used to undermine the public’s opinion.

It became clear that Silicon Valley Bank had made a bad bet when it ceased operations in March. Some analysts and politicians believe that the bank’s demise was due to a panic caused by their customers, who spread news on social media.

The 2021 Capitol Shoot: Social Media Driven Murder on Gamestop, an Investment-Fake Retailer, and the Senate Intelligence Committee

“I’m nervous,” Kaine says while walking onto the Senate floor, his voice dropping as if he doesn’t want too many people at the Capitol to overhear. “I’m nervous.”

Banking regulators have been aware of social media’s potential to drive wild movements in public markets since 2021, when shares in Gamestop, a video game retailer, shot from $20 to $483 over a two-week period, before plummeting back down. The SEC blamed investment forums on the site for fueling the episode.

In the past few years, the Intelligence Committee has gotten a number of briefings on the risk of manipulating US markets with deepfakes.

South Dakota Republican Mike Rounds says his competitors use social media to spread fear. “They’re very good at it. They are using a system of bots which can distort legitimate concerns.

TikTok has 7,000 American employees, which is less than the 10,000 or more they wanted to have in 2020, but a big leap over the 1,400 US employees that year.

Republican Rep. Michael McCaul has called TikTok a “spy balloon in your phone,” and fellow Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher has called TikTok “digital fentanyl.”

Is Time Up For TikTok on CNN Primetime? A New Look at the Challenges of the U.S. Social Media

Federal officials have become concerned about China’s technological prowess because of tensions between the U.S. and China. Washington also is watching China conduct military displays in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, not to mention China’s surveillance balloon traversing across the U.S.

CNN is going to host a special to look into the issues surrounding TikTok, as well as potential concerns about its impact on the mental health of young people. Is time up for Tik Tok on CNN Primetime? There is a show on Thursday, March 23.

At the Harvard Business Review conference, which featured executives, professors and artists, Shou Chew was trying to save his company.

To bolster its reputation in the US, TikTok is attempting a larger messaging campaign that tells voters about how essential the social network is to American culture.

A press conference is planned for Wednesday with dozens of social media creators on the steps of the Capitol, some of whom have been flown out there by TikTok. The company is paying for a blitz of advertisements for a Beltway audience. And last week it put out a docuseries highlighting American small business owners who rely on the platform for their livelihoods.

Behind the scenes, Chew has had meetings with members of Congress, as well as inviting researchers and academics to its Washington, D.C. offices, to learn more about how it is trying to address concerns over its ties to China. Its parent company has also ramped up federal lobbying, spending more than $5 million last year, according to data tracked by OpenSecrets.

TikTok recently set a default one-hour daily screen time limit on every account for users under 18 in one of the most aggressive moves yet by a social media company to prevent teens from endlessly scrolling. It rolled out a feature that aimed to offer more information to users about why its powerful algorithm recommends certain videos. More transparency was promised to researchers by the company.

The inspiring stories of American small business owners were spotlighted in the series. The first of the 60-second clips features a Mississippi soap maker with a deep Southern accent who built her company on the app, and the second features an educator who quit his job to focus on sharing informational videos on TikTok aimed at teaching toddlers how to read.

A small business owner from South Carolina who launched a greeting card company with the help of a TikTok app is one of the expected attendees. Some of the creators have hundreds of thousand or even millions of followers on TikTok.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/22/tech/tiktok-messaging-campaign/index.html

Tik Tok: How Successful Has It Beeen in Lobbying for the Chinese Government? An Analysis from Sherman’s Critical View of the PR Push

Even though these efforts were made, Sherman was skeptical about the PR push being as effective as it could be.

Lindsay Gorman, a senior fellow for emerging technologies at the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy and a former Biden administration adviser, said that “by and large, TikTok’s lobbying efforts so far have been pretty ineffective.”

“It’s gotten a lot more attention, so there’s just more awareness of the problem,” says Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, the top Democrat on the new House Select Committee on China.