In a recent development, US President Joe Biden signed a bill in April that demands the international version of the Chinese short video platform “TikTok”, owned by the Chinese company “ByteDance”, to detach from Chinese ownership or face being banned. Reports have emerged that Google is leveraging the uncertain future of TikTok in the US to secure more advertising revenue.
According to Business Insider, Biden’s bill requires ByteDance to find a new non-Chinese buyer by January 19 next year, or it will risk being banned.
A document quoted in the report reveals that Google’s leadership is encouraging its advertising department employees to capitalize on this opportunity by highlighting the possibility of TikTok being banned in the US to persuade advertisers to invest more funds in the YouTube platform.
Furthermore, the document not only provides guidelines to Google’s advertising sales department on emphasizing the benefits of advertising on YouTube, such as the platform’s leading brand safety among competitors, but also includes examples of how YouTube has surpassed TikTok. The report also cites data from the Pew Research Center, indicating that teenagers use YouTube more frequently than TikTok on a daily basis.
However, a Google spokesperson stated that they cannot comment on the document and therefore cannot verify the media’s claims.
Amid concerns over national security related to TikTok, the founder of the Taiwan AI Lab, Du Yijin, recently exposed TikTok’s propaganda operations and how it has become a tool for brainwashing.
Du Yijin highlighted that the Chinese Communist Party utilizes social media as part of cognitive warfare, noting that an analysis of TikTok’s short video content reveals that over 60% of 100 videos praise admiration for the Chinese Communist Party. When it comes to Taiwan, 95% of the content is negative, mentioning issues with Taiwan’s society and livelihood, while 100% of the content pertaining to the US is negative. Du Yijin warned that youth, especially children, could be subtly brainwashed and influenced in their political preferences.
Du Yijin further suggested that the Chinese Communist Party can utilize the Intelligence Law to compel Chinese companies to cooperate or even control the parent company of TikTok, allowing them to monitor American citizens. These social media platforms serve as effective weapons for democratic countries, prompting a call for all democratic countries to promptly address the issues related to TikTok.