By skyforbes 
When Entertainment Becomes Secondary
Imagine telling your younger self that within a decade, foreign ministers would be livestreaming press briefings, influencers would become unofficial ambassadors, and memes would double as propaganda weapons.
Welcome to the age of digital diplomacy, where platforms like TikTok are no longer just social networks: they’re battlegrounds for power, influence, and ideology.
Digital Showcases and Statecraft
In places like the Arabian Peninsula and China, social media are being used as a national branding tool.
Governments partner with celebrities and vloggers to display hospitality, modernization, and strength.
A striking recent example is American influencer IShowSpeed’s 2025 vlogging campaign in China, widely seen as a soft-power initiative to reshape perceptions in the West.
But beneath the travel vlogs and comedy skits lies something much deeper.
TikTok: Entertainment or China’s Digital Weapon?
TikTok is no longer just about sharing content — it’s become a mirror of geopolitical anxiety.
A 2024 law initiated by President Biden effectively bans TikTok unless ByteDance, its Chinese parent company, sells it within a year. This law reflects a growing fear that TikTok could serve as a vector for foreign influence, surveillance, or worse.
Critics in favor of the act picture TikTok as a data-harvesting tool for Chinese surveillance. We’re talking fingerprints, facial recognition, and geolocation: all potentially exposed under Chinese law.
Researchers at Rutgers University found that content criticising China is much less available on TikTok than on Instagram and YouTube.
This meticulous control goes beyond: China has flooded Western platforms with bots and misinformation, often aided by AI, and is increasingly aligning its strategies with Russia.
This practice reflects a long-term campaign to reshape global influence and weaken U.S. power.
It’s not entertainment anymore, it’s an information war.
Towards a “Digital Cold War”?
If Cold War I was fought with ideology, missiles, and military alliances, Cold War II is playing out in the digital space: data, apps, 5G, AI, and algorithms as the new power assets.
Consider this:
- 170+ million Americans use TikTok as of early 2024.
- Nearly 25% of U.S. young adults now say TikTok is their primary source of news.
- TikTok creators and businesses dependent on the platform stand to lose billions in ad revenue and sales if the app is banned or delisted.
The U.S. and China remain tightly linked via supply chains, cloud infrastructure, and app ecosystems, making clean breaks both economically painful and technically complex.
The more governments regulate platforms like TikTok, the more the internet risks balkanization: splitting into distinct, nationalized digital ecosystems with incompatible rules, standards, and services.
This could:
- Slow innovation and slow global tech collaboration.
- Trigger dead-end actions, such as China restricting U.S. apps and technologies.
- Set a precedent for protectionist policies in digital trade.
Law may delay any shutdown, but it won’t stop the broader trend: countries now view control over digital platforms as essential to their economic, political, and security futures.
The TikTok saga is a warning shot in a much larger battle over who gets to define the rules of the internet, shape global narratives, and harness the power of data in the 21st century.
Whether you’re a policymaker, a content creator, or just a casual user, the outcome of this digital war will shape the very infrastructure of truth, trade, and community for years to come.
To what extent do you feel TikTok (or any online platform) can influence your life? Tell me more in the comment section!
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