TikTokers are coping with the app’s potential ban with an unusual trend: by bidding farewell to their “personal Chinese spy.” The trend, which pokes fun at security concerns surrounding the app, has users thanking their “spy” for surveilling them and filling their For You page with entertaining content, while others proclaim that they’d rather share their data directly with the Chinese government than switch to Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts.
One post, which garnered more than 1.5 million likes, depicts an emotional scene from Squid Game with the caption, “Me saying goodbye to my Chinese spy on the 19th (He perfected my algorithm).” Other TikTokers are speaking — and singing — in Chinese, while some pretend to be the “spies” powering individual algorithms.
“It is a great honor to spy on you for the last few years,” TikToker yanxiao1003 says in a video. “I wish you all have a great life in the future… Laura from California, you shouldn’t drink that much Coca-Cola, it’s bad for your health.”
For years, TikTok has faced scrutiny over the ties of its parent company, ByteDance, to China, with lawmakers calling it a “national security threat” and accusing the app of sending US user data to China. But now the platform’s ban is imminent, with the Supreme Court set to hand down a decision on whether to uphold the law that would either ban TikTok or force ByteDance to divest it by January 19th.
@yanxiao1003 No gathering lasts forever #tiktokban #chinesespy
@lisandravcomedy An open letter to my special Chinese Spy #tiktokban #politicstiktok #comedy
@cool_cammy i’m gonna miss my chinese spy
@matcha.mix sometimes it’s the one who’s always been in front of you that you never notice #tiktokban #invisiblestring #lovejourney #matchamix #data #china #datinglife
@kozylifekiki Tiktok ban who they can have all the info they want on me to keep tiktok from getting banned #tiktokban
