How dangerous the Chinese app really is: Virus TIK TOK | Politics

The Chinese app TikTok is currently a constant topic. Everywhere. Like a virus that infects the entire world.

The symptoms in politicians: contradictory behavior and indecision.

The most prominent case is US President Joe Biden (81). He recently signed a law to force the Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok in the USA within the next nine months – otherwise a ban is threatened. The concern in the White House: China's dictatorship is behind the app, spying on millions of US citizens. TikTok has already filed a lawsuit against this.

Absurd: On the day of the signing, Biden uploaded a video to the China app. The topic: a voter thanking him for the good pension.

What is this TikTok anyway?

Invented in 2016 by the Chinese Zhang Yiming (41). The effect: maximum addiction – because the app always seems to be one step ahead, knowing what the user actually wants to see before he does. There are videos on everything: politics, art, city trips, but also a lot of nonsense and perverted things.

▶︎ This is how it works: The user watches a video on their phone. If they don't like it, they can swipe it upwards with their finger. A new one immediately appears from below.

The algorithm immediately notices what people like based on how long they watch. Each video that follows is even better tailored to the user's interests. The clips are short, 60 seconds on average. This ensures speed. No boredom. A swipe of the finger and let it wash over you, that's TikTok.

Two weeks ago, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (54, Green Party) also became infected with the TikTok virus and started his own channel.

Habeck said he knew that this was a “tightrope walk” that he would have preferred to avoid. But he wanted to go “where only the AfD is” and reach students that way.

The fact is: The far-right party is particularly successful in hunting for voters on the dance-laugh-clap app, and has 3.6 million followers. All other parties have 1.2 million – together!

Politicians use TikTok, but constantly warn about risks and side effects. In the Chancellery, there is even a special cell phone for the account of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65, SPD), which must NEVER be connected to the government WiFi for fear of Chinese espionage!

Ulrich Kelber, the country's top data protection officer, advised against using TikTok on a work cell phone. Vice President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Sinan Selen admitted that he had “stomach ache” when it came to the platform.

And EU chief Ursula von der Leyen would prefer to eradicate the pathogen. “We know exactly how dangerous TikTok is,” she said last week – and did not rule out a ban. A week earlier, her commission warned of harm to children and young people from the second app TikTok Lite and threatened penalties. The company gave in and removed a function that rewarded people watching videos with vouchers.

In general, the EU criticizes TikTok for its addictive potential for young users and the psychological risk it poses.

“TikTok should be banned”

Christian Lüdke (63), child and adolescent psychotherapist, warns in BILD: “The brain rewards the fast movements on TikTok with feelings of happiness – it's like an addictive drug.” Dangers: depression, mental disorders, loneliness. Lüdke: “Actually, TikTok should be banned for children.”

But the biggest fear about the app is that China's dictator Xi Jinping and his apparatus could control TikTok. Stefan Hessel, a data protection lawyer, told BamS: “We have a political conflict.” The app is suspected of espionage because of its proximity to China and possible data theft.

However, Hessel said that the app cannot be banned in this country due to data protection violations; the law does not allow that. “If you want to rein in TikTok, you can only do that through antitrust law.”

This means that only when TikTok's dominance becomes enormous could action be taken against it.