TikTok ban looms

+ leaving college without a degree US Edition - Today's top story: TikTok fears point to larger problem: Poor media literacy in the social media age [View in browser]( US Edition | 20 April 2024 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives increased the likelihood of a ban on TikTok by inserting a bill into an emergency foreign aid package. The bill calls for TikTok’s China-based parent ByteDance to sell the the video social media app to an American company or face a national ban of the app. The House plans to vote on the package today. The move turned up the heat on the multifaceted debate over banning the app. Largely missing from that debate, however, is the bigger picture of the threat to U.S. democracy from misinformation and foreign influence. UMass Boston technology ethicist Nir Eisikovits [explains why the threat is not unique to TikTok](, what’s at the root of the problem, and how a group of Boston teenagers could be part of the solution. This week we also liked articles about [incarcerated firefighters](, [Taylor Swift’s nod to Clara Bow](, and the quest to [find signs of life on icy moons](. [ [Get a global perspective on the news, with the best of The Conversation’s journalism from around the world, twice weekly.]( ] Eric Smalley Science + Technology Editor Tiktok is not the only social media app to pose the threats it’s been accused of. picture alliance via Getty Images [TikTok fears point to larger problem: Poor media literacy in the social media age]( Nir Eisikovits, UMass Boston If the US wants to protect young people from misinformation and foreign influence, focusing on TikTok is barking up the wrong tree. The likelihood of graduating from college is linked to the type of college a student attends. 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