And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
– My Way, Frank Sinatra
I’ve been warning about the dangers of social media apps for years, not only to individuals but also to businesses. Of those, TikTok has shown itself to be the worst, as its well-documented dangers as a tool for both espionage and social manipulation by the Chinese Community Party (CCP) have finally prompted Congress to act.
While it has been increasingly banned by government agencies and major corporations over the years as its dangers became more apparent, the concern now seems to be shifting to the broader public, especially in light of the coming election and how the CCP can use TikTok to manipulate and disrupt the election process.
While the chances of this ban for everyone in the US look increasingly likely, when it is implemented due to court challenges or whether the ban is bypassed due to workarounds TikTok introduces to allow users to allow access outside of the app itself is still to be seen.
However, my warning to all businesses is to wake up and determine NOW if and how you are using TikTok in your social media campaigns and related business activities. If you are a CEO, you may not even be aware that this is occurring in the bowels of your marketing and sales organization, so ASK.
If you have processes in place to connect with or market to your customers using TikTok, you had better be thinking about not only how you will transition these to some other platform before the rug is abruptly pulled out from under your feet, but also how you will explain to your customers why you are using an app to communicate with them that has been implicated as a tool of a hostile foreign power for espionage, data theft and social manipulation.