Author: viv.daniel

Data Sovereignty in the Age of Digital Nationalism: The Case of TikTok and the Global Fragmentation of the Internet

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Data Sovereignty in the Age of Digital Nationalism: The Case of TikTok and the Global Fragmentation of the Internet

Aysha Vear

 

I. Introduction

Social media has significantly changed the ways in which individuals both receive information and exchange it. As these applications and platforms have increasingly become part of the everyday lives of citizens and further incorporated into their daily interactions, the issue of social media regulation has been a clear focal point of legal and political discourse. Today there exists a growing concern about American citizens’ data with respect to Chinese influence and intrusion. Consequently, the House of Representatives presented a bill in 2024 to mitigate these fears. H.R. 7521 would force the foreign ownership of TikTok, a social media platform controlled by Chinese parent company ByteDance, to divest or face a broad federal ban.[1]

TikTok is centered on short videos created and uploaded by users who are able to create, share and interact with networks of content,[2] and it has quickly become one of the most popular apps in the United States.[3]  It is “a mass marketplace of trends and ideas and has become a popular news source for young people”[4] with sixty-two percent of eighteen to twenty-nine year olds saying that they use the app[5] which reached a billion users in 2021.[6]  The app got its start in the U.S. as an app called “Musical.ly” but was acquired by the Chinese company ByteDance in 2018 and rebranded as TikTok.[7] ByteDance is headquartered in Beijing and it launched “Douyin,” the Chinese TikTok equivalent in 2016 prior to the “Musical.ly” acquisition. It is this affiliation with China and the Chinese app that flagged concern for United States government officials and this case represents a growing trend of national governments asserting greater control over digital platforms and the content which citizens consume.

This highlights a growing trend toward countries treating data governance as a national security issue. Data sovereignty is a concept that refers to “a state’s sovereign power to regulate not only cross-border flow of data through uses of internet filtering technologies and data localization mandates, but also speech activities . . . and access to technologies.”[8] Governments are introducing laws to prevent foreign control over citizen data, such as China’s Data Security Law and India’s restriction on data localization. Given that these laws have different aims and approaches to governance as well as shifting priorities, they have increased geopolitical competition between the U.S., China, and the EU. While data sovereignty is a necessary framework for global internet governance, its implementation must balance security concerns with the need to prevent a fragmentation of the internet as we know it. More countries are scrambling to control the flow of data in and out of their national borders and, as such, “the rise in data localization policies has been a contributing factor in declining internet freedom.”[9] This paper will explore the different approaches of the United States, China, and the European Union in controlling cross-border data flows. Next, looking through a specific lens at the TikTok forced divestiture and attacks on other Chinese entities, it will explore the growing trend of data sovereignty and attempt to find the balance in national security and digital openness. Finally, the paper will suggest possible solutions for the growing need for better collaboration in the digital sphere.

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Spoiled for Choice: AI Regulation Possibilities

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Spoiled for Choice: AI Regulation Possibilities

William O’Reilly

 

I. Introduction

Americans want innovation and they believe advancing AI benefits everyone.[1] One solution to encourage this is to roll back regulations.[2] Unfortunately, part and parcel with the innovations are several harms that are likely to result from the inappropriate use of personal and proprietary data and AI decision-making.[3]  There is an option to ignore this potential harm and halt regulations to encourage the spread of personal information.[4] This option is not in the best interest of the country because the U.S. is already losing the innovation race in some respects. Innovation can still occur despite heavy regulations. Virginia is the latest state to pursue the “no regulation” strategy, and it provides a good microcosm to highlight the challenges and advantages of this approach.[5] Virginia’s absence of regulation falls on a spectrum of legislation that demonstrates options for states to protect rights and innovation. As this article discusses further, curbing AI regulation on companies will not advance innovation enough to justify the civil rights violations perpetuated by current AI use.

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Privacy and Free Speech in the Age of the Ever-Present Border

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Privacy and Free Speech in the Age of the Ever-Present Border

Viv Daniel

 

I. Introduction and Legal Background

On his first day in office, President Trump signed Executive Order 1461 (EO 1461), titled “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.”[1] The Order, as the name might suggest, directs executive agencies to coordinate to enhance screening for foreign nationals coming to, or living within, the United States.[2] The Order instructs these agencies to ensure that non-citizens “are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”[3]

To enforce the provisions of the Order, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has put forward a proposed rule, with comments open until May 5th, to require non-citizens to disclose all of their social media usernames when filling out forms to access immigration benefits.[4] USCIS says it will then use this information to enhance identity verification, vet and screen for national security, and conduct generalized immigration inspections under its purview.[5]

This is not the first time something like this has happened. In 2019 under the previous Trump administration, Visa applicants were required to register all recent social media accounts with the government as part of the application,[6] a rule which was upheld when a District Judge for the District of Columbia dismissed a case challenging it.[7]

President Trump vests EO 1461 in his executive authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).[8] The Act, passed in 1952, was heavily amended in 1996 by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) to retroactively make harsher the immigration consequences of certain conduct.[9] Although terrorism as-such was not implicated in the act, the update to the INA was partially motivated by a need to respond to the 1993 World Trade Center Bombings, and violent and conspiratorial conduct which could constitute terrorism was covered by the act.[10]

Although IIRIRA drastically expanded the number of deportable immigrants in the U.S. overnight, subjecting many non-citizens to removal proceedings over minor infractions committed decades ago,[11] the act did not go so far as to explicitly punish noncitizens for their free speech.[12] The executive authority now claimed under the Act to monitor social media, however, aligns with a troubling trend which may change this norm.

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