What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - TikTok's Shady Deal with the U.S.
Slate Daily Feed
Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 25 August 2023
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the spring, it looked like TikTok was on the verge of being banned in America. Since then, it’s continued operating business as usual.
But this week, it was revealed that ByteDance and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States came close to striking a deal that would allow TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. The negotiations give a glimpse into how social media—and by extension speech itself—could be regulated on the internet.
Guest:
Emily Baker-White, tech reporter and senior writer at Forbes
If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, y'all. I hope you're having a great day. Not just a good day. And today is day number |
| 0:08.0 | five of Alabama rush. And I'm not someone who spends a lot of time on TikTok, but August |
| 0:15.2 | is different because that is when the candy colored amped up wildly unhinged world of |
| 0:22.7 | sorority rush goes online, especially at the University of Alabama. |
| 0:28.6 | So for today's O2D, my dress is Shalpo. My heels are open at it. My earrings are |
| 0:35.0 | Kendra Scuts, and they're my moms. They're wishing me luck today. My necklaces are the same |
| 0:39.7 | Tiffany and Kendra from every day. |
| 0:42.4 | You could watch these outfit of the day TikToks or honestly pretty amazing dance routines |
| 0:47.2 | until you go blue in the face or crimson, whatever. |
| 0:51.6 | TikTok has sort of become, I would say, the dominant speech platform in the United States |
| 0:57.4 | right now. |
| 1:00.3 | That is Forbes reporter Emily Baker White, and frankly, Emily owns the TikTok beat. |
| 1:06.4 | It has 150 million American users. People use it for an average of 90 minutes a day, which |
| 1:12.5 | for listeners who use TikTok, no, you don't intend to spend 90 minutes a day, but you're |
| 1:18.7 | there on your couch after work and just 45 minutes has gone by without you even noticing |
| 1:24.3 | that you opened your phone. |
| 1:26.5 | The last time I talked to Emily was before my annual Rush Talk watching, back in the spring |
| 1:31.0 | when the conversation about TikTok was very different. Not so much outfit of the day, |
| 1:37.1 | more will this app be banned in America? |
| 1:40.6 | TikTok CEO Shoji Chu was hauled in front of Congress to testify about his company's |
| 1:45.6 | links to China. |
| 1:47.1 | Our approach has never been to dismiss or trivialize any of these concerns. We have |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.