Hollywood star and humanitarian Ashton Kutcher is warning the Chinese government could use the video-sharing app TikTok to push “anti-U.S. propaganda” in order to influence young and easily swayed Americans.
The “Cheaper by the Dozen” actor told investor Joe Lonsdale he fears the country’s communist regime could use the platform to promote an “anti-Taiwanese propaganda effort” and suggested China may, by way of TikTok, “create a problem” in the South China Sea.
Kutcher, who first gained notoriety for his role in “That ’70s Show,” admitted that, while most Americans likely believe “media manipulation” is happening, they’re under the errant impression that it’s not occurring “through their sources.”
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“I think that’s wrong,” the celebrity said. “[I] think we’re about to face a reckoning in that particular domain, and it’s going to probably change what social media looks like in the future. My sense is that what social media is today is not what social media is going to be in five years.”
“If the trend line continues on the path that it’s on today,” Kutcher added, “my kids will not be on social media. If the trend line pivots, as I think it likely will, there’s a chance that I will allow them to use it.”
What else did he say?
Regarding TikTok, the 43-year-old actor said there’s a “massive regulatory battle on the horizon.”
“If I’m China, and I want to create a problem in that area of the world — specifically a naval problem in the South China Sea — I would probably want to utilize TikTok in order to influence the minds of Americans,” Kutcher explained.
The well-known entertainer echoed an opinion shared by former President Donald Trump, who, in August of last year, issued an order to ban the Chinese-owned app from operating in the United States.
President Joe Biden, however, rescinded the order when he took office.
By the way…
Without much fanfare or media attention, TikTok updated its privacy policy in early June, allowing itself to begin collecting biometric data from U.S.-based users, including their face prints and voice prints.
“We may collect information about the images and audio that are a part of your user content, such as identifying the objects and scenery that appear, the existence and location within an image of face and body features and attributes, the nature of the audio, and the text of the words spoken in your user content,” states the revised policy. “We may collect biometric identifiers and biometric information as defined under U.S. laws, such as faceprints and voiceprints, from your user content. Where required by law, we will seek any required permissions from you prior to any such collection.”
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There are only a small handful of states — Illinois, Washington, New York, Texas, and California — with laws protecting residents’ biometric data, according to TechCrunch.
As for TikTok, the app claimed it needs to collect said data “to enable special video effects, for content moderation, for demographic classification, for content and ad recommendations, and for other non-personally identifiying operations.”