The bill would order Biden to ban TikTok and other apps associated with "countries of concern" or "entities of concern." There are several problems with a bipartisan proposal in Congress to ban TikTok, the popular video-sharing app that originated in China. For one thing, it's technologically infeasible. It's also pointless. Fears about TikTok are overblown, and any real threats can be mitigated by way less drastic measures than banning ByteDance (TikTok's parent company) from doing business here.
The whole thing seems like an exercise in getting publicity rather than an actual attempt at good governance. But let's nonetheless take the bill seriously for a moment, and explore why it's both unnecessary and unworkable. We must start with why people are so afraid of TikTok.
