Reflections on a Past Event: TikTok

We at BRC are always keeping an eye on current events. If you’ve been keeping up with the news, then you have probably heard about the federal TikTok ban. You may not know that we hosted a debate on the (then) potential ban in 2023. That debate, between UVA professor Aynne Kokas and Hudson Institute scholar Rebecca Heinrichs, raised many points both for and against a TikTok ban. 

Let’s take a moment to reflect on some of their points that have become relevant in the last several days of controversy. 

The Blue Ridge event took place three years following President Trump’s initial steps to address the national security threat posed by TikTok, including issuing an executive order to have the app sold to a US-based company or banned. Ultimately, nothing happened. At the event, Professor Kokas expressed concern about TikTok’s data gathering practices, noting that TikTok parent company ByteDance has access to user data that it can be required to share with the Chinese government. Heinrichs agreed, citing TikTok as a potential source of Chinese spyware. However, Heinrichs argued that free speech laws in the United States would pose obstacles to a ban on the app. 

Both parties agreed that TikTok posed a risk to US national security. Heinrichs compared the popular mobile app to Chinese spy balloons that have, at times, been spotted over the United States. “You [have] a little Chinese spy balloon in your phone”, said Heinrichs, according to coverage of our event provided by the Cavalier Daily. 

Since then, the House of Representatives worked to pass a bill requiring TikTok parent company, ByteDance, to divest itself from TikTok in the United States, or face a ban. The bill was passed by a bipartisan majority in the House before being passed by the Senate and signed by President Biden. Following a 9-0 Supreme Court ruling upholding the law, TikTok shut down operations in the US on January 18, 2025, before resuming the next day following a pledge by President-elect Trump to halt the ban via executive order. On his first day in office, President Trump gave ByteDance a 75-day extension to sell TikTok to an American company. What’s next? No one knows.  

Here at the Blue Ridge Center, we are thrilled at the opportunity to provide students with an outlet for engaging the most pressing issues in the world today. We hope that our TikTok debate allowed our students to navigate such a present concern thoughtfully.