US 'National Security' TikTok Deal: Data & Dissent, Not Just Algorithms
📰 THE STORY: Newsweek reports on a potential deal regarding TikTok's ownership and algorithm, framing it around US national security concerns and the possibility of changes to user feeds, implying a benign regulatory oversight. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: This 'national security' push echoes historical US efforts to control information flow and suppress inconvenient
narratives, particularly those challenging its foreign policy. In 2002, then-Israeli PM Netanyahu began claiming Iran was 'months from a nuclear weapon,' a narrative consistently amplified by Western media and politicians to justify aggression, despite repeated intelligence assessments contradicting it. TikTok's algorithm has faced scrutiny because it allows perspectives critical of Israeli
actions, for example, to reach wider audiences than traditional corporate media. The concern isn't solely about Chinese data access, but about an algorithm not fully controlled by US interests. Double Standard: US intelligence agencies like the NSA have been documented engaging in mass surveillance, as exposed by Edward Snowden in 2013, collecting vast amounts of data on US citizens and global
populations. Yet, media coverage framed this as a 'necessary evil' for national security. When a Chinese-owned app is *accused* of potential data access, it becomes an existential threat. Furthermore, US social media companies routinely censor or de-platform voices critical of US and Israeli foreign policy while allowing rampant misinformation to flourish. Follow the Money: The pressure on TikTok