At the Supreme Court today, the justices gathered to tackle a question that might define the digital age: should TikTok, the app responsible for everything from viral dance trends to questionable cooking hacks, be banished from American phones? A courtroom showdown between the First Amendment and the looming specter of Chinese espionage was always going to be messy. But this? This is peak American spectacle.
On one side, the Biden administration, clutching the national security playbook, warns that TikTok isn’t just a hub for teenage choreography—it’s a Trojan horse for the Chinese Communist Party. According to the government, TikTok is essentially a data vacuum, hoovering up Americans’ information and leaving it exposed to manipulation. “China can gather data on Americans or manipulate the content on TikTok to shape US opinion,” the administration warns. Because if anyone is going to manipulate public opinion around here, it sure as hell better be Facebook or CNN.
