{"667600":{"#nid":"667600","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Case for TikTok: Social Media Ownership has Little Impact in Security Breaches","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESince the beginning of the year, the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2023\/01\/20\/tiktok-bans-states-colleges\/\u0022\u003Edebate around TikTok\u003C\/a\u003E, one of the world\u2019s most popular social media platforms, has seized national attention due to its ownership by a private company headquartered in the People\u0027s Republic of China.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, to\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EMilton Mueller\u003C\/strong\u003E, co-founder and director of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.internetgovernance.org\/\u0022\u003EInternet Governance Project\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(IGP), this focus is diverting attention away from real security and privacy conversations in the technology industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf officials are concerned with privacy, then there would need to be\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.internetgovernance.org\/2023\/04\/06\/is-a-privacy-law-the-answer\/\u0022\u003Esomething that applies to all\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;information technology companies,\u201d he said. \u201cCybersecurity threats from other countries have not come from the websites or services they own, but instead from direct online attacks using shared infrastructure and software.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs Mueller points out, disinformation and security breaches are not unique to TikTok. For example, the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/discord-chatting-app-servers-ukraine-classified-leaks-fbi-e7db28b3c183a6f734ae4ebd40869230?utm_source=apnews\u0026amp;utm_medium=relatedcontentmodule\u0022\u003Erecent intelligence leak\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;from the Pentagon originated on Discord, a social media app that allows users to share voice and video calls, text messages, and media files in private or public chats.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese examples show that the ownership of a social media platform is not the issue,\u201d said Mueller. \u201cCompanies know things like disinformation and security breaches undermine their platforms and reputation, so they work to address those problems when they are brought to light.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPlatforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have been embroiled in controversy regarding disinformation campaigns that originated both domestically and abroad. To manage this, social media companies develop rules for content moderation. While most of the rules are mainstream, each company has its own editorial style, like traditional media outlets.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWebsites that actively promote falsehoods can potentially face legal and financial troubles. Congress has held hearings in the past to make executives\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.internetgovernance.org\/2023\/03\/30\/the-narrative-tiktok-hearing-chinese-drones-stablecoins\/\u0022\u003Etestify\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;under oath about the behaviors of their companies. These hearings often are meant to determine if legislative action is needed, but in the case of TikTok, the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.internetgovernance.org\/2023\/03\/13\/the-restrict-act-reversing-globalization-in-ict\/\u0022\u003ERestrict Act\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;had already been introduced weeks before the hearing took place.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Senate bill outlines a plan give the U.S. executive branch almost unlimited authority to reverse any transactions, ban products and services, or force a sale of any information and communications technology that is owned by a foreign government deemed a national security threat.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince TikTok\u2019s parent company is owned by the Chinese government, it would be deemed a national security threat under the bill if it is passed. The fear among lawmakers is that the popular app is being used as a propaganda tool to influence the 150 million American users.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile TikTok has offered its own solution, dubbed\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.internetgovernance.org\/2023\/03\/09\/tiktoks-project-texas-the-wrong-template-for-tomorrows-digital-economy\/\u0022\u003EProject Texas\u003C\/a\u003E, Mueller argues that both proposals\u2019 will lead to government censorship and the suppression of free speech online.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the research done by Mueller and his colleagues, there is no evidence TikTok promotes Chinese influence through the app. In fact, the professor discovered that TikTok is more than a trendy app used by teenagers, it\u2019s also a platform with one billion users engaging in open dialogue on topics ranging from entertainment to education.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI do not see open debate as evidence of Chinese influence,\u201d said Mueller. \u201cOne of the reasons I have become an active user is because TikTok is not just an app full of dancing hamsters and goofy teenagers, there is some of that, but there are debates, news, businesses, discussion, information, and political content.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMueller is jointly appointed with the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scp.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Public Policy\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(SPP) where he serves as the program director for the Master of Science in Cybersecurity policy track.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThrough the IGP, he and\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EKarim Farhat\u003C\/strong\u003E, a research scientist in SPP, conducted the first thorough\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.internetgovernance.org\/2023\/01\/08\/new-igp-research-paper-tiktok-and-us-national-security\/\u0022\u003Enational security threat analysis of TikTok\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EMilton Mueller is\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003Eco-founder, and director of the\u0026nbsp;Internet Governance Project thinks efforts to ban TikTok are misguided and may lead to government censorship and the suppression of free speech online.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A Georgia Tech cybersecurity expert sees no evidence of Chinese influence and says the popular app supports open dialogue."}],"uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2023-05-02 13:37:08","changed_gmt":"2023-05-02 13:40:11","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-05-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-05-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"670707":{"id":"670707","type":"image","title":"Milton Mueller","body":null,"created":"1683034636","gmt_created":"2023-05-02 13:37:16","changed":"1683034636","gmt_changed":"2023-05-02 13:37:16","alt":"Milton Mueller, co-founder and director of the Internet Governance Project, professor in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and the School of Public Policy. ","file":{"fid":"253619","name":"Milton Mueller .jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/05\/02\/Milton%20Mueller%20.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/05\/02\/Milton%20Mueller%20.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":13550,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/05\/02\/Milton%20Mueller%20.jpeg?itok=jE6nEx1P"}}},"media_ids":["670707"],"groups":[{"id":"430601","name":"Institute for Information Security and Privacy"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"190947","name":"tiktok"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Popham\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer I\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nSchool of Cybersecurity \u0026amp; Privacy\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\njohn.popham@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["john.popham@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}