The US President suspects the video-sharing application, TikTok, is being used as a means of espionage. And he has several means at his disposal if he wants to effectively ban it.
The American president, Donald Trump, announced on Friday, July 31, that he intends to ban the social network TikTok in the United States, suspected by Washington of being used by the Chinese intelligence services.
American officials have expressed in recent weeks the fear that the very popular video platform will be used by Beijing for negative purposes for the United States. Steven Mnuchin, the American Secretary of the Treasury, had made known on Wednesday that he would make a “recommendation” on TikTok to the White House this week.
In the name of protecting national security
According to the Wall Street Journal and the Bloomberg agency, the president was about to sign an official order to force the Chinese parent company to separate from the very popular American application, in the name of protecting national security. The social network declined to comment on the news of a forced sale, simply stating that it was “confident in TikTok’s long-term success.
More transparency and controls to reassure users
“Hundreds of millions of people come to TikTok to be entertained and connected, including our community of creators and artists who live through the platform,” the platform added. But instead of this sale Donald Trump announced the ban of TikTok in the United States and said he would act as early as Saturday. A few days ago, TikTok had committed to a high level of transparency, including allowing checks on its algorithms, to reassure users and regulators.
“We are not political, we don’t accept political advertising and we don’t have an agenda. Our sole objective is to remain a lively and dynamic platform that is appreciated by all,” TikTok boss Kevin Mayer said in a blog post on Wednesday. “The entire industry is under scrutiny, and rightly so. Because of the Chinese origins of the company, we are being examined even more closely. We accept this and take up the challenge,” he says.
TikTok, challenged outside the United States
James Lewis, head of the technology policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the security risk of using TikTok is “close to zero”. On the other hand, “it seems that ByteDance could come under pressure from Beijing,” he said. The social network is also contested outside the United States.
It has been banned since 30 June in India, where it was placed at the top of the list of 59 Chinese applications blocked by New Delhi on its territory to “ensure the security and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace”. Pakistan, a very conservative Muslim country, recently issued a “final warning” to the video-sharing application TikTok to remove content deemed “immoral, obscene and vulgar” from its platform.
Source: 20minutes
