Data Privacy Laws & Social Media Governance : A comparative analysis of Tik Tok & Meta/Facebook using EU, US, and China’s Data Privacy Laws

Abstract: This academic investigation examines the intersection between International Relations (IR), data privacy laws, and social media governance. The case studies are of Tik Tok & Facebook/Meta where we begin the research by taking a comparative analysis of the US congressional hearings of Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Facebook/Meta) in 2018 and Shou Zi Chew (CEO of Tik Tok) in 2023. In addition, a comparative analysis is made on the referenced or related data privacy laws amongst the EU, US, and China through the realist, liberalist, and new constructivist lens. Lastly, a practice theory approach follows the empirical data of penalties on these two social media companies, the similar corporate solutions from Tik Tok to both EU and the US, and the quantifiable lobbying contributions from both ByteDance (parent company to Tik Tok) and Facebook/Meta. The three research questions are (i) how do the IR theoretical lenses of realism and liberalism acknowledge the significance of social media and its need for regulations, (ii) how can data be conceptualized for social media governance and what are the implications of these dynamics within IR, and (iii) what is the efficacy of data privacy laws in protecting user rights while social media companies influence US policymakers? My conclusion is that data privacy laws are legal jargon that either power-maximize a state or act as a taxation mechanism. User rights are not secure, and there is a battle for accountability and a risk that algorithms may keep social media companies abstained from responsibility.