The Norwegian Board of Technology and the Norwegian National Human Rights Institution (NIM) collaborate annually on a project that intersects technology and human rights. This year’s project focuses on social media, national security, and freedom of expression, with a particular focus on the regulation of TikTok in the USA, the EU, and Norway.
Background
TikTok is under pressure in the USA. A new American law requires that TikTok either be transferred to American ownership or subjected to strict control to avoid a ban on the service in the country. The primary concern is national security, particularly the fear that American user data could end up in the hands of Chinese authorities. U.S. authorities are also worried that TikTok’s algorithms could be used to influence and manipulate young people, exacerbate social divisions, and thus weaken trust in democracy.
The TikTok case pits strong American freedom of expression against significant security concerns. TikTok has already been banned in several countries, such as India, due to security reasons. In Europe, the EU’s digital strategy has tightened the regulation of social media platforms in recent years, and several of these new regulations will soon become Norwegian law.
The outcome of this case could have global consequences for the regulation of social media platforms, including in Europe and Norway. In a joint publication, the NBT and NIM will explore what could happen in Norway if TikTok is banned in the USA, as well as the political and technological solutions needed to regulate a platform with close ties to the Chinese government.
The project will assess the following questions:
- How would a potential ban on TikTok in the USA affect its usage in Norway?
- Could Chinese authorities gain access to user data from TikTok, and could the platform’s algorithms be used to influence the Norwegian population in a way that threatens national security?
- What legal and technological solutions exist in the USA, the EU, and Norway to regulate a social media platform like TikTok, which has Chinese ownership?
These issues will be analysed in a joint report, to be published in autumn 2024.
Background for the collaboration between NBT and NIM:
The Norwegian Board of Technology (NBT) and the Norwegian Human Rights Institution (NIM) work together to highlight current and politically relevant trends in technology and human rights. Both of our mandates involve providing advice to the Norwegian Parliament and other authorities, as well as informing the public. Our institutions also have many thematic overlaps: technology, law, ethics, and politics are almost always closely intertwined.
The collaboration between NIM and NBT began in 2022, resulting in the report The Metaverse and Human Rights. In 2023, the project focused on how artificial intelligence could affect freedom of thought, information, and expression, culminating in the report Generative Artificial Intelligence and Freedom of Expression.
