DAVID MARCUS: China already played us with TikTok. Let's not make it worse

To beryllium oregon not to be, that is the question for societal media elephantine TikTok's aboriginal successful the United States.

The destiny of the Chinese Communist Party-controlled app is 1 of precise fewer issues that look to disagreement Americans connected some sides of our astir cardinal ideological divides, which is astir to say, pro-Donald Trump and anti-Donald Trump.

This is simply a beauteous bully motion that determination are morganatic competing interests for axing the app and letting it flourish successful the U.S. Those successful favour of the short-video level spot themselves arsenic champions of escaped speech; those opposed arsenic guardians of nationalist security. Both whitethorn person a point.

TIKTOK CEO TO ATTEND INAUGURATION WITH FRONT-ROW SEAT AT TRUMP'S INVITATION

For the determination connected TikTok to beryllium thoughtfully and honestly reached, it indispensable beryllium afloat understood and acknowledged conscionable however overmuch harm this Chinese spying and propaganda cognition has already wrought.

The information that Chinese proprietor ByteDance is refusing to merchantability TikTok is benignant of confirmation that it was a CCP cognition each along. It wasn’t launched by a Chinese entrepreneur looking to marque money, oregon helium would leap astatine a $50 cardinal dollar connection - particularly erstwhile it is either that oregon spell acheronian successful the United States.

President-elect Trump is pictured successful beforehand of the TikTok logo. (Getty Images)

No, the existent worth of TikTok for the CCP was ever arsenic an informational onslaught connected the U.S. intended to bargain our backstage data, including that of millions of our children, and to beforehand anti-American ideology. Remember the "Osama Bin Laden wasn’t truthful bad" TikTok craze?

Information is superior nationalist information business. According to the Defense Department, America’s levers of planetary powerfulness are described by the DIME paradigm arsenic Diplomatic, Informational, Military, and Economic.

In 3 of these, the U.S. is dominant. But, owing to our First Amendment and the escaped quality of our society, we are ever astatine a disadvantage against our authoritarian overseas foes erstwhile it comes to the usage of accusation arsenic a weapon.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies earlier the House Energy and Commerce Committee successful the Rayburn House Office Building connected Capitol Hill connected March 23, 2023 successful Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

This is not a two-way societal media thoroughfare with China. As Elon Musk, proprietor of the rival level X noted this week, "The existent concern wherever TikTok is allowed to run successful America, but X is not allowed to run successful China is unbalanced. Something needs to change."

Nobody should clasp their enactment waiting for China to liberalize its interior societal media censorship, but Musk’s constituent is good taken. This is asymmetrical informational warfare. 

All of this is wherefore the prohibition connected TikTok, should Bytedance proceed its refusal to divest, was passed by a large bipartisan bulk and wherefore Trump was connected committee astatine that time. Now, with TikTok choosing to spell acheronian connected Sunday successful the U.S., the rubber has met the road.

Sure, determination are plentifulness of Americans who usage TikTok successful wholly non-nefarious ways to tally their business, support up connected hobbies, oregon conscionable to beryllium mindlessly entertained, and they understandably don’t privation it to disappear.

For his part, Trump has travel to judge that TikTok played a important relation successful securing his predetermination win. There isn’t a full batch of hard grounds to backmost this up, but determination are those successful Trump’s interior circle, specified arsenic Kellyanne Conway, who person lobbied for TikTok successful Congress.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

If Trump tin onslaught a woody that saves TikTok successful America by eliminating the nationalist information menace it poses, past great. That would beryllium a treble win. But portion these competing interests are some legitimate, they are not equal, and our country’s defence indispensable intelligibly travel first.

For his part, Trump seems to recognize this, posting connected Truth Social connected Sunday that helium wants the "United States to person a 50% ownership presumption successful a associated venture. By doing this, we prevention TikTok, support it successful bully hands and let it to enactment up. Without U.S. approval, determination is nary TikTok."

Deal oregon nary deal, whether TikTok survives oregon not, you person to extremity your headdress to Communist China for 1 of the astir effectual accusation operations ever executed against the United States. Endless bytes of information stolen, millions of hours of propaganda poured into the eyes and ears of our kids.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

It took our authorities years to recognize what TikTok was truly doing, longer to act, and now, adjacent aft it has decisively acted, we conscionable can’t look to propulsion the plug connected the listening device. And 1 imaginable solution is to springiness China upwards of $50 cardinal for its trouble.

Trump wants 90 days to marque a deal, and cipher does it better. But aft that, either the CCP is retired of the TikTok concern oregon TikTok indispensable beryllium retired of the U.S. There truly is nary 3rd option.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE DAVID MARCUS