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By Chris Fenton for RealClearPolitics
Within the dynamic panorama of worldwide leisure, the affect of Beijing over Hollywood has lengthy been a subject of heated dialogue. Whereas the field workplace energy of the Chinese language market has waned, giving a breath of artistic freedom again to our filmmakers, there looms a brand new and extra pervasive type of affect on Hollywood and properly past: TikTok.
Beijing could have misplaced theatrical market leverage, nevertheless it has greater than made up for that with an overwhelming social media presence that has change into an epidemic, not simply in Hollywood however all through the US. The truth is, the Chairman of Congress’s Choose Committee on China, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), precisely labels TikTok as “digital fentanyl” and has been aggressively campaigning to ban the social media app.
As a media government and a storyteller attuned to the intricate dance between creativity, commerce, and geopolitics, I’ve watched Beijing’s sway over Hollywood’s storytelling shift shapes. TikTok, a platform that has rooted itself deep into the material of American youth tradition, is on the forefront of this transformation.
It’s not merely a social media app; it’s a potent instrument of affect, data, knowledge assortment, commerce, and creativity. One which has far outpaced conventional broadcast networks in its attain and affect on younger Individuals. Nevertheless, sadly for the welfare of our nice nation, TikTok is beneath the management of a non-allied nation’s pernicious authorities.
Right here in Hollywood, the dialog is not about market entry and field workplace numbers contained in the PRC. That Golden Goose is cooked. As a substitute, it’s concerning the very platforms we use to create, promote, and share content material right here in the US and elsewhere. When mentioning TikTok in these discussions, China inevitably comes up. In any case, TikTok is a platform owned by a Chinese language firm, operated beneath the jurisdiction and oversight of Beijing, and closely scrutinized by Washington in consequence.
The app gives Beijing a capability to grasp, management, and affect Individuals properly past merely Hollywood content material. The truth is, the platform is rather more damaging in the way it shapes the opinions and views of adults beneath 30 years of age or, in different phrases, the longer term generations of Individuals.
According to Pew Research, a 3rd of these beneath 30 rely solely on TikTok for information, and Beijing can throttle, amplify, or utterly censor precisely what the app distributes as “information.” Sure, TikTok’s multitude of lobbyists, public relations personnel, and attorneys spin and argue the other, however the platform has been caught contradicting one too many instances. Beijing virtually actually calls the pictures.
Understanding such, the nefarious actions from our rival throughout the Pacific now appear gravely damaging to American pursuits, particularly in an election 12 months. Beijing will virtually actually use TikTok to check voter knowledge and management the circulate of data and information, making an attempt to dictate the 2024 election outcomes.
In December, the New York Occasions stated, “pundits name subsequent 12 months the ‘TikTok election’ due to the ballooning energy and affect of the video app. TikTok … has more and more change into a information supply for millennials and Gen Z-ers, who might be a robust a part of the voters.”
Worse, research by Securing Democracy discovered that 30% of main get together candidates in Senate races used TikTok accounts as a part of their marketing campaign methods in 2022, and the quantity is probably going larger at the moment.
Logic factors to the plain. TikTok needs to be banned. And earlier than these opposing such a ban even attempt to invoke the “Freedom of Speech/First Modification” argument, there’s a easy and efficient counter. In the US, the Federal Communications Fee prohibits management of American broadcast networks by hostile international governments and entities beholden to them.
The ban is grounded within the steadfast perception that we should defend our nationwide narrative and cultural sovereignty from nations seeking to weaken or divide us. The query, then, is why ought to TikTok be an exception? Why enable a foreign-owned entity such profound entry to the psyches of our youth, the views of our voters, and the center of our artistic industries, particularly since Beijing thinks the worldwide app isn’t even worthy of entry in its personal nation?
Banning the app is simple, with priority, and, frankly, extraordinarily mandatory. This isn’t a name for censorship, neither is it an indictment of the colourful creativity that TikTok has fostered amongst hundreds of thousands of customers. It’s a name for consistency in our insurance policies and for the safety of our nationwide pursuits.
Prohibition could appear disruptive, however as a substitute, it comes with minimal value and substantial advantages. It can propel Hollywood again to American-owned and managed platforms, making certain that our content material and the technique of its distribution stay free from the shadow of international manipulation. It’s additionally a pleasant, long-overdue motion of reciprocity within the bilateral relationship. Beijing has tilted the scales towards its personal home gamers by stifling or banning international opponents contained in the PRC. Why not do the identical to permit Instagram, Twitter, or another progressive American social media platform to select up the market that TikTok vacates?
Some could argue that TikTok is simply too entrenched to be uprooted, and that its ban can be a loss too nice for the customers who’ve constructed communities on its platform. However allow us to not underestimate the resilience and ingenuity of our artistic neighborhood. Hollywood has at all times been on the vanguard of change, pioneering new methods to inform tales and join with audiences. Within the absence of TikTok, different platforms will rise, fostering an ecosystem that may thrive beneath the values and freedoms we maintain dearly.
Let’s seize this chance. Let’s safeguard the artistic freedoms which have made Hollywood a beacon of storytelling around the globe and, extra importantly, defend the integrity of American elections and promote American technological ingenuity.
It’s time to ban TikTok. Both that, or we must always simply enable Beijing full management of our broadcast networks, too.
Chris Fenton is a longtime media government, producer, and writer of “Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, and American Business.” As an off-the-cuff advisor to Congress’ Choose Committee on China and a member of the U.S.-Asia Institute, Council on Overseas Relations, Nationwide Committee on U.S. China Relations, and Third Method Suppose Tank, he based his personal agency, FENTON · International Business Strategy & Communications to assist the personal sector and Washington navigate America’s difficult relationship with non-allied nations. Comply with him on X @TheDragonFeeder.
Reprinted with permission from RealClearWire.
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