In the fall of this year, executives from the American e-commerce giant Amazon were summoned to Capitol Hill by the House Committee on Communist China Issues for a closed-door meeting to discuss the collaboration between the company and the Chinese short-video platform TikTok.
According to Bloomberg, the meeting took place in September and focused on the partnership announced by Amazon and TikTok in August.
Against the backdrop of increasingly tense US-China relations, the Committee on Communist China Issues expressed concerns about the collaboration between Amazon and TikTok, which is expected to undergo a national security review.
A spokesperson for the committee told Bloomberg, “We are concerned about the collaboration between Amazon and TikTok because TikTok may pose a serious threat to national security. Such a collaboration is both risky and unwise.”
In response, an Amazon spokesperson stated via email, “Like many American companies, we maintain open communication with government officials at all levels to discuss issues related to policymakers, employees, and customers.”
In August this year, Amazon and TikTok announced a partnership to launch a shopping collaboration, allowing TikTok users to shop directly through Amazon ads on TikTok without leaving the app. Users can link their Amazon accounts with their TikTok accounts to simplify the shopping process.
This partnership enables Amazon to better engage with TikTok’s young user base, especially Generation Z, and achieve success in in-app shopping on social media platforms.
At the same time, TikTok benefits from Amazon’s brand reputation and further consolidates its market share in the US, especially in the face of the risk of potential bans.
In April this year, President Biden signed a bill requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest its US operations by January 19, 2025 (the day before the presidential inauguration), or else TikTok would face a nationwide ban.
Amazon has long been one of TikTok’s major advertisers in the US. However, amidst the possibility of a complete TikTok ban in the US, Amazon’s decision to ally with TikTok is seen as a strategic move.
Recently, large US companies such as Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) and music distribution platform UnitedMasters have also chosen to collaborate with TikTok.
These collaborations indicate that American companies seem to have doubts about whether TikTok will indeed be banned.
During his campaign, President Trump opposed banning TikTok. Currently, it remains unclear whether Trump will lift the ban on TikTok after taking office next year.
In August this year, the Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University released a research report stating that TikTok has been manipulating its algorithm to promote official Chinese Communist Party propaganda and suppress content related to anti-communist sentiments.
This finding echoes longstanding concerns of the US government that hostile countries like the Communist China are exploiting America’s freedom of speech to undermine national security.