Hard calculations on Tiktok's soft power

How Tiktok's influence among younger Americans can become a tool in the hands of the Chinese state to manipulate US elections Gunjan Singh

Reframing China: TikTok, Soft Power, and the Battle for Global Narratives

In recent years, Tiktok has been the focus of geopolitical manoeuvring. During his second presidential term, US President Donald Trump pushed for a change in the ownership citing concerns over data and privacy because of Bytedance’s ownership and its closeness to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In 2024, Washington had approved a law that banned the app unless the ownership moved out of Chinese control. The app faced restrictions between January 2025 and January 2026. The ban was lifted after the majority ownership (80.1 per cent) moved to American investors. Tiktok was one of the 59 Chinese apps to be banned by India as a response to Chinese aggression during the Galwan clashes in 2020, and remains proscribed even today.