59 pages • 1 hour read
Peter SchweizerBlood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 3, Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3, Chapter 7 Summary: “A TikToking Bomb”
In Chapter 7 of Blood Money, Peter Schweizer discusses the alleged role of TikTok in psychological manipulation, especially among children. He recounts how fear-inducing videos about a potential Russian attack on Sweden caused widespread anxiety among young users, which, according to him, proves that TikTok’s algorithm is a tool for mass panic. Schweizer suggests TikTok, controlled by its Chinese parent company ByteDance, has been weaponized for cognitive warfare, influencing young minds in the West. He draws parallels to a surge in neurological issues among US children, which some researchers attribute to “mass sociogenic illness” where young people experience nervous tics due to using TikTok and other social media platforms (188). Furthermore, Schweizer accuses American celebrities and institutions of promoting the app without considering its alleged ties to Chinese propaganda. Ultimately, he frames TikTok as a tool for the Chinese Communist Party to wage psychological warfare, describing its addictive qualities and the app’s growing influence on American culture, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Schweizer, TikTok’s algorithm is more than just a tool for entertainment—it allegedly manipulates users, particularly younger audiences, by controlling the content they see. He argues that TikTok’s design fosters the dissemination of content aligned with Chinese state goals, shaping users’ thoughts, emotions, and public opinion.
Schweizer connects this to broader Chinese strategies for “cognitive warfare,” which allegedly aim to alter the perceptions and values of foreign audiences. ByteDance’s proximity to Chinese military projects and propaganda operations, Schweizer claims, points to a deeper agenda to influence Western society. Through TikTok’s algorithmic control, Beijing can guide how people think, shifting societal norms over time, which Schweizer interprets as a new form of psychological warfare aimed at Western children and teenagers.
Schweizer also claims that senior positions at ByteDance are occupied by individuals with direct links to CCP-affiliated organizations or Chinese state media. He suggests that ByteDance’s leadership adheres to CCP policies and operates under Chinese law, promoting content aligned with socialist values while influencing young TikTok users in a way that reinforces the CCP’s objectives.
Schweizer argues that the app’s addictive design damages the cognitive abilities of its users, especially youth, by reducing attention spans and making it harder to focus on longer tasks. Schweizer also links TikTok to antisocial behavior. Schweizer contrasts TikTok with its Chinese version, Douyin, which allegedly promotes only educational content and limits usage for children. He suggests that while Douyin is designed to enhance intellectual growth in China, TikTok encourages shallow entertainment in the US, which he interprets as a deliberate strategy to harm cognitive development outside China.
Schweizer then alleges that TikTok functions as a tool for Chinese surveillance. He claims that TikTok gathers extensive personal information, including address books, photos, and even biometric data. According to Schweizer, this vast amount of data, combined with TikTok’s algorithm, allows the Chinese government to manipulate users’ attitudes and opinions. Schweizer connects these concerns to the broader US national security debate, noting that the Trump administration and bipartisan lawmakers called for a review of TikTok’s risks. However, he criticizes President Biden for rescinding Trump’s executive order, suggesting that influential American investors and lobbyists tied to ByteDance may have influenced the decision to delay decisive action against the app.
Part 3, Chapter 8 Summary: “Digital Entertainment”
In Chapter 8 of Blood Money, Schweizer examines how Chinese companies, particularly Tencent and ByteDance, use video games as tools for propaganda and data collection, targeting young people globally, especially in the US. Schweizer claims that these companies, with ties to the Chinese government, dominate the global video game market, acquiring major game producers like Riot Games and Epic Games. He argues that these video apps, like TikTok, employ addictive mechanisms and gather vast amounts of user data, including personal and biometric information.
Schweizer contends that this data can be accessed by the Chinese government under its cybersecurity laws, posing potential risks for privacy and manipulation. He highlights the CCP’s view of video games as cultural exports designed to promote Chinese values and narratives. Allegedly, games such as League of Legends, Genshin Impact, and Showa American Story are vehicles for Chinese propaganda.
Part 3, Chapter 9 Summary: “The People’s Republic of Hollywood”
In Chapter 9, Schweizer claims that the CCP has expanded its influence into Hollywood through financial investments and co-productions. He claims that major Hollywood studios, including Universal, DreamWorks, and Lionsgate, have entered into agreements with Chinese companies, thereby giving the CCP leverage over content. These deals are designed to ensure Chinese approval, which Schweizer suggests leads to censorship and the promotion of pro-CCP messages.
The chapter explores how the Chinese government’s influence allegedly manifests in various films, reshaping narratives to align with China’s political goals. Schweizer provides examples of movies like Doctor Strange, where supposedly a Tibetan character was changed to avoid offending Beijing, and The Martian, where Chinese technology is depicted as saving an American astronaut. He also claims that films co-produced with Chinese companies often have fewer dark-skinned actors, reflecting China’s aesthetic preferences.
Schweizer also blames filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, who once distanced himself from Beijing due to human rights concerns but later embraced Chinese investments. He argues that these financial ties compromise Hollywood’s creative independence, allowing the CCP to inject subtle messaging in global cinema.
Part 3, Chapters 7-9 Analysis
In Chapters 7 though 9, Schweizer explores the intersection of technology, entertainment, and Chinese global impact, focusing on three primary domains—TikTok, video games, and Hollywood—to provide evidence for the book’s thematic interest in The Erosion of American Values Through Foreign Influence. Schweizer’s series of arguments that suggest the CCP is utilizing these platforms as tools for manipulation and propaganda rely on real-world concerns, such as data privacy and international influence, but his work also employs a range of rhetorical strategies to create a narrative that distorts the reality to support his conclusions.
Schweizer focuses on the notion that TikTok, and by extension other digital platforms, is deliberately designed to undermine the cognitive health and emotional well-being of Western children. Schweizer’s description of TikTok as a weapon for “cognitive warfare” revisits an argumentum ad metum rhetoric that appeals to the fears of his readers. For example, he implies that Chinese entities, particularly ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, are using psychological manipulation to harm American youth by inducing neurological disorders. Schweizer states that as “a result of spending hours on TikTok” teenagers experience “overstimulation, then a ‘nervous system disturbance’ manifest[ing] in bizarre behavior” (118). This representation, amplified by the excessive attention given this study in the media, plays on the anxieties of parents and policymakers, painting a picture of a society under siege by digital technology. The article cited by Schweizer does not refer to the use of TikTok in general. Rather, the article analyzes a very specific phenomenon—namely the exposure of viewers to videos containing tics and the development of tics in subjects who did not previously experience tics, through a phenomenon called disease modeling (Olvera, Caroline et al. “TikTok Tics: A Pandemic Within a Pandemic.” Movement Disorders Clinical Practice vol. 8,8 1200-1205. 2021). Other researchers have linked the phenomenon with a range of issues other than social media exposure, such as anxiety and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic (Frey, Jessica et al. “TikTok Tourette’s: Are We Witnessing a Rise in Functional Tic-Like Behavior Driven by Adolescent Social Media Use?.” Psychology Research and Behavior Management vol. 15 3575-3585. 2022). In the context of the article, TikTok tics do not refer to a generalized malady but rather a specific phenomenon caused by multiple social factors.
Schweizer’s use of exaggerated metaphors—such as TikTok being a “bomb” waiting to detonate, as the title of Chapter 7 suggests—serves to sensationalize the dangers he perceives. While evidence supports legitimate concerns about the addictive qualities of social media and its potential to foster harmful behaviors, Schweizer oversimplifies these dynamics by framing them as part of a calculated Chinese plot. This rhetorical strategy distracts from the broader discussions around social media regulation, data privacy, and mental health, reducing the issue to a binary struggle between “good” (the US) and “evil” (China).
Schweizer appeals to nationalist sentiments by portraying American society—especially its youth—as a vulnerable entity under constant attack from the outside. Schweizer crafts a narrative that portrays Chinese influence in Western technology and entertainment as a deliberate and nefarious threat. His focus on youth, cultural exports, and financial entanglements between US and Chinese financial actors creates an oversimplified picture of the complex dynamics at play in the global digital economy. By relying on selective facts and appeals to emotions, Schweizer’s analysis takes on the characteristics of Covert Manipulation and Disinformation Campaigns as opposed to providing a balanced critique of Chinese influence.
