Who Won the U.S. Presidential Debate?

The clock is ticking for TikTok, and questions of freedom of speech and national security are on the line.

This week, representatives for the popular video-sharing app are arguing in a federal appeals court for its ability to operate in the United States. A federal law, which goes into effect in January, would ban the app for U.S. users in the name of national security concerns. Chinese company, ByteDance, owns TikTok.

Virginia Tech communications experts Megan Duncan, Jimmy Ivory, and Cayce Myers explain what this case means for social media's role in public perception and political opinion.

"While we might think of TikTok as mostly fun dance videos and people sharing their beauty routines, this federal law and subsequent court hearings demonstrate that social media is political," Duncan said. "Because it is a place where public opinion can be influenced and because it is a company that controls substantial money and power, social media is political.

"Platforms such as TikTok and others have been shown to influence public opinion relating to what topics users think are important and worth paying attention to," Duncan said. "They can also influence a user's perception of the balance of public opinion on an issue."

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