CEO Jeffrey Edell presented social media companies preparing to move to blockchain with a six-point plan.

CEO and chairman of MeWe Jeffrey Edell recently wrote an opinion piece outlining his belief that blockchain technology might prevent the current state of affairs between China's TikTok and the US authorities.

Being the CEO of a social media company that transitioned from traditional Web2 to blockchain technology and supposedly has over 20 million subscribers puts Edell in a unique position.

The state of TikTok

Numerous recent reports suggest that the United States is considering a complete ban on China's TikTok social media site. Allegations have surfaced suggesting that the owner of the platform, ByteDance, has given the Chinese government access to private user information, which could have detrimental effects on the United States security

In a Rolling Stone opinion piece, Edell stated that the TikTok predicament is essentially a user privacy issue that might have been avoided with decentralisation:

"Although there are legitimate worries about TikTok, I think we shouldn't limit our attention to just one app or one nation. Rather, businesses should focus on developing and enforcing stringent policies for managing consumers' privacy, digital identities, and personal data, regardless of where they are from.

"Using Web 3-based, blockchain technology is one way to ensure that personal data is secure and protected," Edell continued.

Making the switch to blockchain

MeWe moved from Web2 to the Frequency blockchain network, a Polkadot parachain, in April 2023, as Cointelegraph reported.

To put it simply, the case for blockchain-based

user privacy hinges on who, exactly, has access to user data. On traditional social media platforms, such as X, user data is held and accessed through a centralized control method wherein the company itself retains ownership of all data.

In TikTok’s case, this ostensibly means that ByteDance — and, by legal extension, the government of China — owns all of the platform’s user data, including more than 150 million U.S.-based users.

By placing data on the blockchain and implementing specific privacy controls, a social media network can give users control over their data without compromising platform functionality.

While MeWe’s user base doesn’t quite stack up to TikTok’s, the company’s transition to blockchain shows that it’s possible.

To that end, Edell shared six best practices for other companies considering the change in his Rolling Stone article: understanding the technology, starting small, choosing the platform that’s right for your organization, staying up to date with regulatory compliance changes, collaborating with stakeholders, and ensuring employees are educated and trained on blockchain