Technologies

Politicians Push for TikTok Ban, Saying It’s a Threat to National Security

Tech experts say that might not be the right way to handle the problem, and instead argue for privacy protections.

Some American lawmakers want to ban TikTok over worries that its 150 million US users could be a powerful weapon in the hands of the Chinese government.

Proposals bouncing around both the US House and Senate would do just that, though the technical details remain fuzzy. And an unprecedented move like this would undoubtedly prompt legal challenges from free-speech advocates, the tech industry and others, especially in the absence of any direct evidence showing Chinese government ties or surveillance.

The growing calls for such a ban follow the more than four-hour grilling of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew by a House committee last month. During the meeting, several members angrily charged that the app could be used to both gather intelligence about Americans and spread dangerous disinformation in service of that government’s agenda.

They also railed against the company’s perceived data collection and sharing habits, as well as the potential effects of explicit and otherwise inappropriate content on the growing minds of kids and teenagers.

Chew repeatedly insisted during the hearing that his company, which is based in Singapore and Los Angeles, operates independently from both its China-based parent ByteDance and the Chinese government.

After the hearing’s conclusion, TikTok also released a statement accusing the committee members of “political grandstanding” and failing to acknowledge the company’s efforts to address data protection concerns through efforts like Project Texas, which the company says would keep American user data in the US.

While some security experts agree it’s possible that TikTok could pose a danger to national security, they argue that a ban isn’t the right way to handle those concerns. Instead, they argue that political leaders should focus on passing federal digital privacy legislation that would regulate how all social media companies collect, protect and share user data.

“We’re not China,” said Justin Fier, senior vice president for red team operations at the AI security company Darktrace. “There’s no ‘Great Firewall’ here. We don’t monitor every packet that goes back and forth.”

Fier said that from a practical standpoint he doesn’t understand how such a ban would work in the US, other than by forcing companies like Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores, which in itself would be a “massive” move.

That said, Fier and other data security experts say politicians are right to be worried about TikTok’s impact on national security.

“From a targeting perspective, it’s the perfect data set,” he said, noting that Chinese intelligence officials could easily filter the massive amounts of data collected by the app to find specific Americans to target for espionage purposes.

Anton Dahbura, executive director of the Information Security Institute at Johns Hopkins University, agrees. He says that Chinese efforts to gather data on the American population at large are nothing new, noting that its government has been tied to everything from the massive data breach of the Marriott hotel chain to swarms of surveillance drones discovered in the skies of Washington, DC.

Meanwhile, he says the stakes continue to increase as the definition of what’s now considered critical infrastructure continues to broaden. While facilities like meat-packing plants and schools may not have been considered to be part of this category a few years ago, they are now, Dahbura says. But their data security resources and practices haven’t kept pace, making them soft targets for nation-state hackers.

Data collected by TikTok could give those digital intelligence operators the information they need to target them, he said.

“This is something everyone should take seriously,” he said. Dahbura added that while other social media companies are also collecting that same data, “it’s over the top to have an open pipeline directly to foreign governments for them to use as they please.”

Despite that, he agrees that a ban would do little good, saying that Americans will find a way around it or move to imitators that will inevitably pop up.

Dahbura says the mishmash of complaints and issues thrown around by the politicians calling for a ban shows how members of Congress don’t really understand how social media and the technology behind it work.

There were at least a handful of times during the hearing where representatives asked questions that didn’t make any sense, including whether TikTok accessed home Wi-Fi networks. Apps don’t access networks, but devices like phones and laptops do, then apps connect to the internet through them. Another such question was whether TikTok monitors pupil dilation. Chew said it doesn’t. It just identifies the eyes on a person’s face when they’re using certain kinds of filters.

At the same time, some of the committee members tried to put the focus on the perceived evils of social media as a whole, for example, pointing to the suicide death of a teenager last year that allegedly happened after the teen watched TikTok videos promoting suicide.

While those are big problems, they aren’t unique to TikTok, Dahbura said. “That eliminated their credibility for me,” he said of the panel.

Fier said that given the vast amounts of data social media companies collect and store, the government will have to ultimately decide whether it wants to regulate them as it does financial institutions and other data-heavy industries.

Given the millions of people and businesses that use TikTok and social media,”it would be a tough culture shift to go backward,” he said.

Both experts said that one thing Congress could do is finally pass a federal privacy law. Right now, in the US tech companies are governed by a patchwork of state laws. While admittedly this wouldn’t stop Chinese espionage efforts, it could go a long way toward addressing other long-running concerns about social media as a whole.

“Our politicians have become extremely reactive in regards to technology,” Dahbura said. “But the way technology is moving, we can’t be reactive anymore. We have to be proactive.”

Technologies

Trump Maintains US‑Iran Negotiations Continue Amid Tehran’s Denials of Duplicity

President Trump insists that US‑Iran talks are ongoing despite Tehran’s denial of any negotiation plans, while warning that only a deal or total surrender will allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Conflicting statements from both sides have heightened uncertainty as the conflict enters its sixth month.

On Monday, President Donald Trump asserted that negotiations between the United States and Iran are still taking place, even after Tehran stated it has no intention of engaging in direct talks with Washington.

In a fiery Truth Social post, Trump labeled Iran’s leaders “unbelievably duplicitous,” claiming they are lying about ongoing peace talks “whether Iran wants to admit it or not.” He repeated his assertion that the United States completely controls the Strait of Hormuz, despite maritime traffic through the crucial route lingering at only a small fraction of pre‑conflict levels.

He wrote, “Nothing reaches Iran unless we allow it, and nothing will pass unless a deal—or total surrender—is achieved.”

Earlier that day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters there is no imminent plan for U.S.–Iran negotiations, contradicting Trump’s earlier comment that talks would resume Monday afternoon. Baghaei added that Iran’s only current discussions are with Oman concerning the Strait of Hormuz.

The conflicting statements have heightened uncertainty over the peace‑talk process and the broader conflict, now in its sixth month.

Trump’s assertion about new negotiations came a day after he said on Truth Social that he had agreed to cancel a massive strike against Iran “subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.” He said in the same post that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked him to hold off on that attack because “the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

Trump has claimed dozens of times throughout the more‑than‑five‑month‑long war that a deal is at hand. No permanent deal has been signed, and a temporary ceasefire reached in June has fallen apart.

Trump has also repeatedly threatened to launch devastating strikes against Iran before backing off. After the latest example, oil prices on Monday fell and stocks surged.

BMI, a research unit of Fitch Solutions, said in a note Monday that a broader diplomatic understanding on reopening the Strait of Hormuz is still achievable this quarter, while raising the probability of its escalation scenario to 35% from 25%, citing mounting military, diplomatic and economic signs of rising U.S.-Iran tensions.

“Diplomatic progress is likely to be punctuated by periodic military flare-ups, while miscalculation by either side could trigger a renewed escalation,” BMI analysts wrote in a note. The firm said the key issue to watch is the future governance of the strait, as the Iran-Oman talks — potentially backed by Gulf states, China and the U.S. — point to efforts to build a post-conflict shipping framework.

Shipping risks persist even as diplomacy appears to be advancing. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it received a report of an incident 20 nautical miles (23 miles) northeast of Khasab, Oman — at the mouth of the strait — with a tanker’s master reporting an explosion in close proximity to the vessel at about 20:37 UTC Sunday (4:37 pm ET). The vessel and crew were safe and authorities are investigating, UKMTO said, advising ships to transit with caution.

The proposal Trump announced over the weekend calls for the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations and continue ironing out some of the thorny issues that had derailed diplomatic efforts, according to The Associated Press, citing a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.

The official said the proposal also includes a reopening of the Hormuz Strait and halting attacks across the region, including by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on the Arab Gulf countries and Jordan.

The U.S., for its part, will end its naval blockade on Iran and allow Tehran to export its oil, the official said, adding that no deal has been reached, although the mediation efforts remained underway.

Trump’s weekend reversal has lowered the temperature after days of escalating attacks across the Gulf. Kuwait said Saturday that Iranian forces launched a wave of drones within its airspace, with its military destroying multiple aircraft after Iran targeted critical infrastructure in the country’s north.

A parallel track with Muscat is also advancing. Iranian diplomats said Tehran was close to reaching a new arrangement with Oman to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a deal critical to preventing the war from escalating further, according to the Financial Times.

Iranian officials said negotiations over future management of the Hormuz Strait with Oman, which sits on the opposite shore of the waterway, are in their final stages. The agreed shipping route would be different from those used before, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Baghaei, adding that the new route was separate from the issue of the strait’s reopening or continued closure.

Technologies

Oil Prices Slide as Trump Halts Planned Iran Strike

Oil prices dropped after Trump cancelled a planned strike on Iran, with WTI down about 5% and Brent near 5% lower. He said the move followed requests from Tehran and regional allies for a pause while a deal shaping the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program is negotiated.

Oil prices fell on Monday after President Donald Trump announced he had cancelled a planned strike on Iran. WTI futures dropped roughly 5% to $80.34 a barrel, while Brent slipped about 4.7% to $83.77 a barrel.

Trump said early Sunday he called off the strike after Iran and several Middle Eastern nations asked him to hold off, noting that the outlines of a deal had been agreed upon. He added that the prospective accord would entail the immediate, full opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to his Truth Social post.

The president had been considering another round of strikes as diplomatic hopes waned since the conflict began on February 28. He said the U.S. and Iran would meet for talks on Monday, but Iran denied any scheduled negotiations with Washington, citing PressTV. Iran’s foreign‑ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei clarified that Tehran was only discussing shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman. In a follow‑up Truth Social message, Trump insisted that, regardless of Iran’s acknowledgment, the United States is indeed discussing a solution to a long‑standing problem created by Iran.

Technologies

Oil Prices Drop as Trump Cancels Planned Attack on Iran

Oil prices fell sharply after President Trump announced the cancellation of a planned strike on Iran, citing a new deal that would open the Hormuz Strait and end Iran’s nuclear threat.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday after President Donald Trump announced that he had called off a planned strike on Iran.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, slipped roughly 5% to close at $80.34 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, declined 4.7% to settle at $83.77 a barrel.

Trump made the announcement early Sunday, saying he had canceled the strike following requests from Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries.

In a Truth Social post, he wrote: “We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

The president indicated that the proposed agreement would include the immediate, complete, and total opening of the Hormuz Strait, as well as an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.

Trump had been weighing additional strikes amid diminishing prospects for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict that began on Feb. 28. He stated that the U.S. and Iran would hold negotiations on Monday.

Tehran denied that talks were planned with Washington, according to state news outlet PressTV.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was only holding talks with Oman regarding the routes ships can use through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump added that whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused for decades.”