You think you're watching TikTok,
but in reality,
it's watching you.
Yeah, those cute, fun little videos
come at a high price.
Your privacy.
But now this app is banned permanently.
And you might be better off without it.
TikTok has taken over phones worldwide.
It's been growing way too big,
way too fast.
In just four years,
over three billion people
have downloaded the app.
What started as a lip-synching
video-sharing service has become
one of the world's largest media companies.
Everyone in your family
is probably scrolling through its videos right now.
Why are your eyes so glued to the screen?
Because the site's algorithm
is constantly learning.
It's dedicated to giving you
what you want when you want it.
Which is always right now.
You've been feeding this beast
your private data for years.
So what has this monster become?
Having all your personal information
in the digital realm is a frightening concept.
But for data brokers, it's big business.
Data brokers are online companies
that collect your personal information
and sell it to anyone who can pay.
And sometimes, these companies work with the bad guys.
Epsilon, one of the largest data brokers around,
was forced to pay millions of dollars back
to victims after they knowingly sold user data to scammers.
The scammers promised people fake prizes,
auto warranties and even non-existent medical cures.
That's why I'm glad to talk to you today about our sponsor, Incogni.
This company works around the clock to request
the removal of your information from these databases.
It could take years to do this on your own manually.
But through their advanced automated system,
Incogni keeps your data off the market
by conducting repeated, ongoing removals.
They handle all the objections
that the brokers might have and keep you updated
through email every step of the way.
All you have to do is sign up,
subscribe and let them handle the rest.
The best part is their service is risk-free for 30 days,
so if you're not satisfied, you'll get a full refund.
And the first 100 people to use code the WHATIF
at the link below will get 20% off their subscription.
Look, it's easy to get scared of the invisible threats online,
but with Incogni, it's much easier to take action.
Now, let's get back to the video.
Listen, TikTok knows you better
than you know yourself.
But what do you know about it?
Well, for one,
its headquarters are located in Beijing, China.
That means over three billion users' private data
belongs to a company
subject to the whims
of a strict and often totalitarian government.
And according to China's laws,
if the government demands to see data,
TikTok had better hand it over fast.
Yeah, your digital life would be in the hands
of president for life, Xi Jinping.
Now, there's no evidence that TikTok is spying on you,
so you can take the tape off your camera.
But the app does collect information about your phone,
your usage patterns and locations.
It even uses third-party tracking services.
Yeah, a certain foreign government
always knows where you are.
Now, as far as we know,
China hasn't crossed any of these lines.
But India wasn't taking any chances.
India banned TikTok and other Chinese apps,
claiming that China's government
stole their citizens' data.
Even former U.S. President Trump
flirted with banning the social media juggernaut.
I mean, he chickened out,
but what if the U.S. banned TikTok today?
Well, your favorite content creators
would have to find new gigs fast.
Some creators make hundreds of thousands of dollars per post.
Pull the plug,
and in just minutes,
many of these overnight sensations
would lose their fame and fortunes forever.
But what about you and your not-so-famous friends?
About one third of the people on the platform
use TikTok as a news source.
Cutting people off from this information pipeline
could be damaging.
And these aren't just random videos strung together.
TikTok has online communities
based on sharing knowledge,
life hacks and medical advice.
These groups and their creators
would have to go to another social media platform,
or they could disappear from the internet.
And that's not the only way our culture could change.
Remember, that algorithm is designed
to give you that dopamine rush
for hours on end.
Unless or until a new app fills the gap,
people might spend less time on their phones.
As you might have guessed,
that could actually improve society.
In 2021,
neurologists noted an uptick in the number of teenage girls
experiencing symptoms of Tourette's syndrome,
such as making sounds
or movement they couldn't easily control.
But they didn't have the disease.
So what caused their new behaviors?
They had a sociogenic illness.
This phenomenon occurs when people
in certain social groups exhibit bizarre symptoms
without any medical explanation.
The girls were watching so many videos
on Tourette's syndrome and other disorders
that they believed they had the syndrome.
TikTok's algorithm gave the young women
so much specialized content
that it affected their minds and bodies.
So without TikTok supplying this information nonstop,
some people's mental health might improve.
Now, the U.S. federal government
can't make a TikTok ban a nationwide reality.
But if you use a device owned by the U.S. government,
a new law says you can't use it
to access TikTok.
And some states have banned the social media app
from their government devices.
Now, these bans are pretty meaningless.
India banned TikTok,
but anyone with a virtual private network,
or VPN, can still use the app.
But think of it.
If people spend less time on their phones,
well, they might spend more time
with their loved ones.
And that intimacy could lead to a population boom.
Now, what if we had a 50-year ban on babies?
Well, keep the lights on, Romeo,
and stay right here
because that's a story for another WHAT IF.