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THE US WILL ban the use of the Chinese app WeChat on Sunday, citing national security concerns.
Downloads of the app TikTok, owned by the same company, will be banned at the same time, and use of that platform will be banned in the US by 12 November.
However US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said earlier today on Fox Business News that access to TikTok may be possible if certain safeguards are in place.
“At the president’s direction, we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data, while promoting our national values, democratic rules-based norms, and aggressive enforcement of US laws and regulations,” Ross said in a prepared statement.
The US government said its order, previously announced by President Donald Trump in August, will “combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data”.
At the President’s direction, we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data, while promoting our national values, democratic rules-based norms, and aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws and regulations.
— Sec. Wilbur Ross (@SecretaryRoss) September 18, 2020
Some security experts have raised concerns that ByteDance Ltd, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, would maintain access to information on the 100 million TikTok users in the United States, creating a security risk.
Like most social networks, TikTok collects user data and moderates users’ posts. It grabs users’ locations and messages and tracks what they watch to figure out how best to target ads to them.
Similar concerns apply to US-based social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, but Chinese ownership adds an extra issue because the Chinese government could order companies to help it gather intelligence.
TikTok says it does not store US user data in China and that it would not give user data to the government. But experts say the Chinese government can get any information it wants from companies there.
The action is the Trump administration’s latest attempt to weaken influence from China, a rising economic superpower.
Since taking office in 2017, Trump has waged a trade war with China, blocked mergers involving Chinese companies and stifled the business of Chinese firms like Huawei, a maker of phones and telecom equipment.
Republican and Democratic concerns about TikTok include its vulnerability to censorship and misinformation campaigns, and the safety of user data and children’s privacy.
But the administration has provided no specific evidence that TikTok has made US users’ data available to the Chinese government.
Officials point to the hypothetical threat that lies in the Chinese government’s ability to demand cooperation from Chinese companies.
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Just escalating the economic war with Chyna. Have to hand it to Trump though, he ploughs on without a care in the world. Wonder which swamp will he be draining this week. He is definitely the Marmite president. No middle ground with this guy
@PeeedOff: bans a Chinese app on security grounds but ignores their warning of a pandemic because ‘panic’ would affect ‘the figures’. He has his priorities in line alright.
@Alan McArdle: Haha their warnings??? Are you serious, they had their 1st case in late November and silenced their scientists, then told the W.H.O completely false information. Theres a reason alot of countries are planning a boycott on China for awhile now. India and Australia are very vocal about their intent in doing this.
Tiktok and WeChat are not owned by the same company but by Bytedance (Beijing) and Tencent (Shenzhen) respectively.
@kehe:So what is your point? There both Chinese.
@bombacho: It’s… lies? They aren’t the same company… period. We rely on news to give us factual information and if you told someone who knew better that TikTok and WeChat were owned by the same company you would be laughed at with how ignorant you were…. yet this is what TheJournal are publishing without doing any fact checking… as if facts no longer matter. The fact that they are Chinese doesn’t matter.
@Franky Jefferson: You obviously have no idea how communist countries operate.
@kehe: they’re all “owned” by the Chinese government, so technically speaking they are not wrong.
@thomas patrick: both are private companies. Tencent is listed in Hong Kong (stock ticker 700:HK). While criticism of China and the totalitarian Chinese regime is justified based on real evidence, the US government has not provided any evidence against WeChat or Tiktok. A more balanced debate would be good. Protectionism leads to economic downturns (eg the 1930s) and action without evidence or made up evidence can lead to war (eg WMDs and Iraq). Google any of these topics and you will find articles from different sources with indepth analysis but no evidence WeChat and Tiktok are doing anything Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Amazon or Google are not doing.
Bit of a joke really. All US companies if asked have to allow back doors into their apps / communications for the govt. This standard practice going back 20 30 years.
Do you really believe that they don’t use it.
@great gael of Eire: As you said, it’s normal practice for governments to demand and get access to users data. In which case, the US are righg to ban Chinese companies. Of course the Chinese should also ban US companies.
Hopefully China responds by having bonfires of Maga merchandise. Really very little to differentiate Xi and Trump at this point
@Gareth Murran: Hunter Biden agrees with you
@Giddy: I’d expect that he would. He may know if robotic Jared Kushner was also made in the people’s Republic.
@Gareth Murran: Nice rebuttal, some people would call that whataboutery but i wouldn’t, you are dead right, there’s definitely something going on with Trumps in-laws, i don’t trust the Kushners, same way i don’t trust the Bidens
I can’t stand this man, in any way shape or form… but every so often, he says/does something I don’t disagree with… this is one of those times..
I go by the idea that he’s like a stopped clock – occasionally not wrong…
@Mirabelle Stonegate: why is this anything but posturing? Tik Tok is used mostly by teenagers.
@Gareth Murran: And pedo’s
@Gareth Murran: because teenagers are the future voters, they will inherit the world and a data collecting company of that size will know how to target there interests and politics to shape their own future
@Stuart Keogh: Trump has set a precedent here. Data Privacy lobby may use this to go after American Companies.
Sarah cooper’s take off of trump are nothing short of amazing. And then the kids requesting 1 ml tickets for his comeback rally
This is all just a distraction. Banning Tiktok and WeChat is not the same as banning Huawei.
@Wreck Tangle: Tiktok is a social media app built on a blatant data mining core. People who have reverse engineered it as far as they could, found a litany of data mining and access tools with permissions to run further programs in the background.
@Derek:
do you mean that one guy on reddit?
Not hi g to see here. Move along please.
Imagine if China retaliate by banning the use of, and manufacturing, of Apple iPhones
@Jjohn Cconway: resulting in the return of manufacturing jobs for ordinary working class people in the US? Wouldn’t that be awful.
Kim Jung-Un is that you?
Good
Triller is the new tik tok.
Far superior app.
have your say