Is Polarization the Biggest Problem of TikTok?

 Recently, TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew has been under questioning by the U.S House of Representatives over potential abuse of data collection and possibly sending the data to the Chinese Government, making it a national security issue. While the focus of the case on TikTok is centered around privacy issues and foreign intervention in data, they overlook the dangers of polarization on the app. Altogether, the Supreme Court is pondering on whether or not to ban the app ultimately for U.S citizens. One thing about being Shou Zi Chew being under questioning, is that the media has not taken a strong interest as they did with Mark Zuckerberg testifying before the Federal government. Not having the same exposure limits the effect of informing the public about the important case. TikTok, like other social media platforms has an algorithm that reinforces one's own ideological views and tries to show what the user wants to see. Researchers Grandinetti and Bruinsma from the Universities of North Carolina and North Carolina State have found one way the app does reinforce ideological views is by using data found on other apps on your phone and such things as google searches (Grandinetti and Bruinsma 2022). However, they note that while TikTok algorithm allows for unpredicted availability of information dissection, they do not find a strong correlation of polarization on TikTok. The researchers often got mixed results, such as things shown that has been previously searched on one's own device, while also having random videos that does not correlate to the user making the algorithm hard to gauge and study. 

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew Testifies At U.S. House Hearing Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Compared to Twitter per say, TikTok seems to be less of a battleground regarding politics than Twitter or even Facebook. The algorithm seems to focus more on entertainment and keeping the user on the app longer, while also limiting their ability to have to swipe and search for more personalized content. Overall, while political views are found on TikTok, as they are on any social media site, there seems to be bigger danger than that of polarization found on TikTok. TikTok is starting to be debated with parents wondering or not they should allow their young children to use the app, as it is said to hurt the minds of the youth. On the federal level, the Supreme Court is looking to ban the app altogether in the U.S in a bipartisan fashion, due to the security and privacy intrusions of the company. TikTok is not only being talked about being banned only in the U.S, but many other countries have also started to take notice of the dangers. Ironically enough, TikTok could be said it de-polarizes politics as both Democrats and Republicans agree on the dangers of the app! Maybe this is a sign of things to come moving forward, an increase in bipartisanship on protecting privacy and data collection methods from the online realm. Do you think TikTok is dangerous to the political society and/or the youth? Comments are greatly welcomed below. Here's a link to a video by CBS News covering the hearing if you want to watch.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/tiktok-ceo-grilled-on-capitol-hill/

Bibliography

Grandinetti, Justin, and Jeffrey Bruinsma. 2022. “The Affective Algorithms of Conspiracy TikTok.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, November, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2022.2140806.

Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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