The fight against a possible ban on TikTok continues

SIOUX FALLS, SD (Dakota News Now) – The fight over TikTok continued on Capitol Hill Thursday as the company’s CEO testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

On Monday, Bytedance CEO Shaw Shaw Chew announced that more than 150 million Americans use TikTok, but concerns are growing from lawmakers over data security and advertising.

“TikTok has repeatedly chosen the path of more control, more control and more manipulation. Your platform should be banned,” said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rogers.

“Our attitude has never been to dismiss or downplay any of these concerns, which we have addressed with real action,” Shaw said.

As a growth strategist with Epicosity, Sam Thorson uses TikTok to create marketing campaigns for clients.

“You can’t deny that this is a great and powerful communication tool for a specific group of people that caters to a younger audience,” Thorson said.

Thorson points out that TikTok isn’t the only company taking advantage of your data.

“Meta, Snapchat, Twitter, all these platforms use data and make data available to advertisers, where the big issue is TikTok, who has access to that data?” Thorson said.

If the app were to be banned, businesses using the platform might move elsewhere.

“TikTok is just one tool in the toolbox from an advertising platform perspective, and by that I mean there are many tools in the toolbox that any size business can use to get their message out there,” Thorson said.

Thorson believes that looking for answers is the right approach.

“I think it’s appropriate to have these conversations, we need to better understand how the data is captured and how the data is used to serve the general, and so I’m all for seeking those answers. There’s no harm in that, I think we need to understand the platform itself,” Thorson said.

Last November, Gov. Chris Noem signed an executive order banning government employees from using TikTok on government devices, and earlier this month, Attorney General Marty Jackley joined the coalition, asking TikTok to comply with an investigation that the company is protecting. damaged consumers.

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