Bite Me, ByteDance: Trump Sinks his Teeth into China’s Digital Espionage Machine Masquerading as the TikTok App
With TikTok once again at the center of a U.S.–China showdown, we’d like to offer two of the sharpest voices on the issue — The Epoch Times’ Jan Jekielek and Joshua Philipp — for expert analysis. Both have years of experience exposing the Chinese Communist Party’s use of media and technology as tools of surveillance, propaganda, and global influence.
Pre-Order Jan Jekielek’s new book about forced organ harvesting, KILLED TO ORDER
This week, President Trump is pressing for a deal with China’s Xi Jinping to secure TikTok’s future in the U.S. The negotiations reportedly hinge on forcing ByteDance, TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, to divest controlling stake. At the same time, the UK and other Western nations are taking hard looks at TikTok’s reach and risks. The stakes couldn’t be higher: national security, free expression, and the possibility of allowing CCP-linked platforms to influence millions of Americans.
Jan and Joshua can address the following:
- How the CCP leverages TikTok not just for data collection but for narrative warfare — shaping what users see, suppressing dissent, and subtly pushing propaganda.
- Why this isn’t simply a commercial negotiation, but a litmus test for whether Western governments can resist authoritarian influence in digital spaces.
- The risks of a cosmetic deal: if ByteDance retains influence behind the scenes, do Americans really win?
- Why the TikTok battle echoes broader CCP strategies used to control speech, including its decades-long persecution of Falun Gong and other dissidents.
- What real safeguards are needed: algorithm transparency, data audits, and guarantees for free expression on the platform.
The TikTok story is dominating headlines but what’s often missing is the deeper context: the CCP’s track record of weaponizing technology against its own people, and now against the free world. Jan and Joshua bring both that historical perspective and the clarity to explain what’s at stake to an American audience.
Given the urgency of these developments, Jan Jekielek and Joshua Philipp are available immediately for television, radio, or print interviews. They can deliver clear, compelling insights on what the Trump–Xi TikTok deal really means for U.S. security, free speech, and the future of digital sovereignty.
Relevant Article(s)
TikTok: China is calling it a win. What’s in it for them?
Trump, Xi call on TikTok deal underway
The Latest: Trump hopes to finalize TikTok deal during call with Xi
OPTIONAL Q&A:
- Why is TikTok more than just a social media app when it comes to U.S. national security?
- How does the Chinese Communist Party use platforms like TikTok to shape narratives and silence dissenting voices?
- President Trump is pushing for ByteDance to give up control of TikTok — does that go far enough, or is it just a cosmetic fix?
- The UK and other allies are also scrutinizing TikTok. How significant is this global pushback against CCP-linked platforms?
- What risks remain if the CCP retains any influence over TikTok’s algorithms or data behind the scenes?
- From your research, how does the CCP’s control of information abroad mirror its repression of groups like Falun Gong at home?
- What would real safeguards for Americans look like when it comes to apps like TikTok — transparency, audits, ownership changes?
- How should the U.S. balance free expression and open markets with the need to protect against authoritarian influence?
ABOUT JAN JEKIELEK…
Jan Jekielek is senior editor with The Epoch Times, host of the show “American Thought Leaders” and was co-host of “FALLOUT” with Dr. Robert Malone and “Kash’s Corner” with now FBI Director Kash Patel. Years ago Jan studied the evolutionary biology of lemurs in Madagascar, and his life took an unexpected turn. Exposed to the realities of human rights violations in China, he ended up working with an underground railroad bringing Chinese dissidents through the Golden Triangle to Bangkok and ultimately to Western countries. It was then that he realized that telling unknown heroes’ stories was transformative, both for him and audiences.
Determined to tell true stories, Jan started working with The Epoch Times 20 years ago, at a time when popular narratives in the West hid the dark underbelly of communist China. He did some of the earliest reporting on the Chinese regime’s continuing practice of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, and he’s the author of the upcoming book, “Killed to Order: China’s Organ Harvesting Industry and the True Nature of America’s Biggest Adversary.”
Over the last five years, he has interviewed over a thousand thought leaders on camera, including heads of state, multiple U.S. cabinet secretaries and agency heads, and congressional members.
Jan specializes in long-form discussions that challenge assumptions. He’s also an award-winning documentary filmmaker, producing “DeSantis: Florida vs. Lockdowns,” “The Unseen Crisis: Vaccine Stories You Were Never Told,” and the “optimistic” Holocaust documentary “Finding Manny.”
ABOUT JOSHUA PHILIPP…
Joshua Philipp is an award-winning journalist and Senior Investigative Reporter at The Epoch Times. He is the host of ‘Crossroads,’ a news and analysis program on EpochTV. His works have included breakthrough investigations into the origins of Covid-19 and the Wuhan laboratory in the early days of the pandemic. He spearheaded the first documentary on the lab leak origins of the COVID-19 virus, released in April 2020. This groundbreaking documentary garnered over 75 million views, and while many tried to label it misinformation, its findings have since been vindicated by the White House and US intelligence agencies.
EXPERT ANALYSIS FROM JOSHUA PHILIPP
Joshua Philipp, senior investigative reporter at The Epoch Times and a recognized China expert, has mapped out these networks during his 15-plus years of research into the CCP. He provides a deeper context on the CCP’s attempts to subvert the systems and institutions in the United States. As the Chinese regime states, they aim to “strangle you with your own systems,” and that tactic is playing out across key industries and institutions in the US.
Josh is also a leading expert on Chinese unconventional warfare and United Front operations, which he has investigated and exposed since 2008. His 15-plus years of research and investigations on the Chinese Communist Party, subversion, human rights abuses and related topics give him unique insight into the global threat and political landscape.
CONTACT:
For further details or to arrange the interview, please contact Jerry McGlothlin at 919-437-0001 / Bookings@SeasonalLiving.com
CONTACT: Todd Baumann at 512-966-0983 or by email Jerry McGlothlin at bookings@specialguests.com.
