Episode 1: ByteDance with the Devil w/ Geoff Cain
If you’re the parent of a teenager, you might lament the hours they spend scrolling through videos on TikTok. But other than being a time suck, it may seem harmless, right? Not according to a growing chorus of policymakers who say, given TikTok’s relationship with the Chinese government, the app needs to be banned, or seriously curtailed, to protect America. So how could cute dances, animal videos, and influencers be a threat to national security? Evan is joined by Geoffrey Cain, Senior Fellow for Critical Emerging Technologies at Lincoln Network and author of The Perfect Police State: An Undercover Odyssey into China's Terrifying Surveillance Dystopia of the Future. They discuss the changing relationship between China and the U.S., the evolving policy debate over TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, and the geopolitical implications of potential U.S. government action against the popular app.