These concerns stem from TikTok’s parent company, Chinese tech giant ByteDance, and worries that the Chinese government could compel ByteDance or TikTok to hand over data on TikTok users or manipulate content on the platform. I’ve been fairly engaged in this conversation over the past three-plus years, from writing a long, widely read article breaking down possible risks with TikTok in early 2020, to arguing with a Trump official as the White House considered a ban, to recently attending one of TikTok’s private briefings for industry representatives and researchers in Washington, D.C., where the company’s top leadership spent hours running through its “Project Texas” plan to address government security concerns.