TikTok Operations in the United States Unveiling Strategic Moves, Scientific Insights and What Lies Ahead
Executive Summary
1. Presidential Action on TikTok: On 24 April 2024, President Biden signed a Bill mandating that ByteDance must divest from TikTok's U.S. operations. ByteDance has vowed to challenge the bill in the American legal system.
2. Bipartisan Support and Public Opinion: The decision to sign the bill received broad bipartisan support in the United States Congress. However, American public opinion, especially amongst the 18–34-year-old demographic, remains split.
3. Chinese Government Linkages: The action followed extensive investigations and intelligence briefings, which claimed that TikTok was acting as an extension of Beijing's influence operations and could serve strategic Chinese interests within the United States.
4. Influence Operations Concerns: There is a growing concern about China's potential use of TikTok for information and psychological operations within the U.S. to sway public opinion on key issues like Taiwan and the perceived shortfalls of the American form of democracy.
5. Strategic Communication Tactics: The utilization of America’s own cultural constructs and communication preferences is emphasized as a method for effectively disseminating Chinese narratives via platforms like TikTok.
6. Legal and Civil Rights Challenges: The Bill faces opposition from several U.S. groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), highlighting the complexities and legal challenges associated with enforcing such a divestment.
7. Beijing’s Response: Possibly in anticipation of adverse action being taken against TikTok in the United States, Beijing appears to be targeting American platforms such as YouTube and other American news and social media sites. This pivot is indicative of a broader, more embedded approach aimed at influencing American narratives and strengthening China's communication capabilities within the United States.
8. Three Warfares Strategy: In 2014, China’s National Defense University published the ‘Three Warfares’ strategy, which emphasizes psychological, media and legal warfare to achieve strategic objectives traditionally pursued through conventional military means.
9. Potential Civil-Military Fusion: There appears to be considerable convergence between overt PLA doctrine on information warfare that was published in 2015, 2014, 2013 and 1995, the founding of TikTok in 2016 and subsequent Chinese scientific advances in the strategic types of influence operations used by TikTok in 2023.
10. American Case Study: The overlap between the Three Warfares doctrine and TikTok’s observed operations and techniques in the United States is perhaps the most noteworthy of all.
