TikTok threatens the one thing our government cares about more than dunking on each other for donor brownie points: self-preservation, and the continuation of American cultural dominance. The real fear from TikTok isn’t in the security risk. It’s the ability to uncontrollably determine who sees what, in a world where we can’t see it all.

People do not download apps for the features, they do it for the cultural relevance: to themselves, to others, to major events, or to patterns they may not themselves recognize. Anyone can create a generic social media app. Very few can create a product that enables the community who uses it to create part of their identity. That identity with the product brings cultural relevance.