Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel responded to the pressure of TikTok's massive growth and the debate regarding a full ban in the United States. As per the CEO, this would be beneficial in the short run but also acknowledged its longer-term implications.
Supporting TikTok Ban
During an interview with journalist Kara Swisher at the tech and social platform's Snap Partner Summit 2023, Snap Inc. Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel was asked if he thinks there should be a TikTok ban. As per The Hollywood Reporter, his response was he would love that, but only in a short term.
While he would love to see the platform to be blocked by the authorities as it would be beneficial to everyone, he is also concerned about the longer-term implications of singling out one technology company. He believes that when people come across new technology, the first thing they do is break it.
Spiegel stated that it is important for everyone to know the full story and really develop a regulatory framework before dealing with national security concerns, especially when it comes to technology. "I think based on the information that is publicly available, there are legitimate national security concerns far above my pay grade and security clearance," he added.
TechCrunch reported that Snapchat Spotlight, Snap's TikTok rival, has already gained 350 million monthly users. Despite having many users, it still falls behind TikTok's 1 billion monthly users in 2021 and YouTube Shorts' 1.5 billion logged-in monthly viewers.
In order to keep up with its competitors, Snap revealed during the Partner Summit that the company will continue to invest heavily in AI and AI experiences to have an edge in the market and differentiate from other platforms.
TikTok Ban
Compared to other platforms facing security reasons, TikTok is in a different position as it is owned by a Chinese company named ByteDance. Although the company always clarifies that they are not linked to China, it has proven problematic for the company's reputation among government officials in the United States, as per previous reports.
There has not been evidence that TikTok has handed over American user data to the government of China. While this has been still in process in the US, local governments have already taken several steps to ban the app. Only last week, Montana's complete TikTok Ban Bill received its final approval with 54-43 votes in favor of the measure.
It extends beyond the implemented restrictions across several states that prohibit the use of the platform on government-owned devices. This bill must be signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Gianfrote, which will not become effective until January 2024 if passed into law.
In response to this, TikTok released a statement on April 14 and stated, "The bill's champions have admitted that they have no feasible plan for operationalizing this attempt to censor American voices," as it would be decided by the courts, not the people.
