Kai-Shen Huang, Research Group Leader of Democratic Governance at DSET, has published an article in The Diplomat titled “Taiwan’s TikTok Liberal Paradox” examining the recent U.S. TikTok regulations controversy, changes in free speech protection, and how democratic nations should respond to authoritarian countries exploiting democratic institutional weaknesses for political and economic gain.
The article first reviews the history of U.S. TikTok regulation, from gradually increasing restrictions in 2020 to the Biden administration’s signing of the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” in April 2024, requiring TikTok to either sell its U.S. operations or completely exit the U.S. market by January 19, 2025.
In contrast, Taiwan has only banned TikTok on government devices since 2019, a notably milder approach that has drawn attention. As cross-strait relations continue to deteriorate, Taiwan’s hesitation to strengthen regulations appears overly cautious to outside observers. Huang points out that Taiwanese policymakers are primarily concerned about limiting free speech and potential political backlash. However, given the increasing severity of information manipulation and AI’s growing influence, these policy concerns warrant reassessment.
Huang cites Columbia Law School Professor Tim Wu’s perspective, arguing that interpreting free speech solely as a shield against government oppression is too narrow and overlooks the government’s positive obligation to maintain a healthy speech environment.
The article also explains the digital governance asymmetry where Chinese social media platforms can operate freely in democratic countries, while Western platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and Instagram are excluded from China’s internet. This is a typical Chinese strategic approach of exploiting regulatory differences across countries for economic or political gain, what Chen Wei of the National University of Singapore Law School calls “regulatory arbitrage.”
Huang argues that the TikTok regulation issue exposes a more fundamental systemic problem in global governance: China’s increasingly vast and ubiquitous information control capabilities. Restricting TikTok is not merely about limiting an app; it represents an ethical choice to reject political manipulation and practice “Parrhesia” (truth-telling).
While the outcome of the U.S. requirement for ByteDance to sell TikTok remains uncertain, the current policy decisions will set important precedents for democratic allies like Taiwan, influencing how democratic nations respond to authoritarian countries’ exploitation of democratic institutional weaknesses through regulatory arbitrage.