Why Trump Wants To Ban TikTok

why Trump wants to ban TikTok

The Indian government recently banned 59 Chinese apps, including the popular Beijing-based video-sharing app TikTok. The United States is going to follow India. On July 31, US President Donald Trump announced that he would impose a ban on TikTok. Although he later retracted this statement somewhat. Because US tech giant Microsoft wants to take responsibility for storing the data of American users of TikTok. That is, they want to buy some parts of the TikTok.

Microsoft has until September 15 to start a dialogue with ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok. If Microsoft or any other American company cannot buy TikTok by September 15, Tick Tock will be ban. It will be the second major Chinese tech company after Huawei to be banned by the United States. Trump wants to ban TickTuck for the same reason he banned Huawei.

TikTok has gained popularity as a social media in a short period of time. Its owner, ByteDance, is only eight years old. In 2017, the video-sharing app Musical.ly was bought by ByteDance. In less than three years, it has been downloaded more than 2 billion times from the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store. TikTok is the most downloaded app from Apple's App Store. Although a Chinese company, TikTok does not exist in China. Due to the strict censorship policy of the Chinese Communist Party, different network TikTok is used inside China. The name of the Chinese app is Douyin. 

TikTok being banned?

There are currently more than 800 million active TikTok users in the world. It has been downloaded more than 175 million times in the United States. It is a very popular medium for teenagers. Many stars are currently using this app. So why is this hugely popular app going to fall under the sword of prohibition? At the root of this is US security concerns.

TikTok is the name of the most downloaded app from Apple's App Store

TikTok was not supposed to be viewed politically like Facebook or Twitter. Rather it was a means of pure entertainment. But after banning Huawei, the United States also suffered from a lack of confidence in other Chinese tech companies. The reason for banning Huawei was to smuggle US users' information to the Chinese government. Huawei was also accused of spying on US citizens. The United States has the same doubts about the TikTok.

The Law of the Chinese government is that they can take information from any China-based company if the state needs it. That means companies will be obliged by the state to provide users' personal information to the Communist Party. This is what has frightened the United States. Since TikTok is a Chinese product, it can become a threat to the internal security of the United States with a large number of user information to the Chinese government.

In addition to security, censorship of the app is also one of the reasons for the ban. According to a report in the Washington Post during the anti-China protests in Hong Kong last year, TikTok is censoring videos related to the Hong Kong movement. In other words, even though there is a lot of talk about such a big event through other social media, the TikTok does not show them. It was then suspected that they might be being censored by the Chinese government. In other words, the Chinese government has good control over TikTok.

Another Guardian investigation found its authenticity. According to the secret documents found in their search, a guideline was given to the moderators of TikTok on behalf of ByteDance. There was censorship of videos about the genocide in Tiananmen Square, the independence of Tibet, or the banned religious group Falun Gong. In other words, they are following the internal policy of the Chinese government in the United States as well.

These were very uncomfortable for the United States. So last year, US Senators Marco Rubio, Chuck Schumer, and Tom Cotton Chinese ordered an investigation into the app. Last November, the US Committee on Foreign Investment began investigating the purchase of ByteDance's Musical.ly. In early July, after India banned Chinese apps, Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo said they were also considering banning TikTok. Trump said the same thing last week.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced an executive order banning TikTok

Trump can do this through the president's executive order. This could be done by blocking the app from the American App Store through international economic power laws. Again, since ByteDance was owned TikTok through a Musical.ly purchase, it could also be through buying TikTok from them. Microsoft is now working towards the end. This is nothing new for the United States.

Finally, last Thursday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning TikTok. He gave an ultimatum of 45 days there. If no American company can buy TikTok within this period, any American relationship with TikTok or ByteDance will be considered illegal. That is, no American can invest there, get a job, or buy a company.

The United States has denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday stating "Similar, baseless allegations concerning Russia's intelligence have been made more than once. A spokesman for TikTok said in a statement to US media Vox,

TikTok attaches the utmost importance to protecting the privacy of users. A lot of false information is being spread about TikTok now. The truth is that TikTok does not exist in China. TikTok is operated by the American Executive. Hundreds of Americans are working here. There are also American security advisers. Moreover, TikTok data is stored in Virginia, USA. Backups are stored in Singapore. 

We always invite lawyers to discuss questions or questions about our company. We're building a team in Washington, D.C., so lawyers can come to us if they have any questions. We know we believe in deeds more than words.

For Chinese tech companies, working in the United States is now becoming an image crisis. TikTok replaced former musical executive Alex Zhuke in May with Kevin Meyer, head of Disney's streaming service, as TikTok's chief executive. But even then, the Trump administration is not getting rid of the cannon. Zhang Eming, executive of ByteDance, says Trump doesn't really want to just ban TikTok. You want to get rid of it. Meanwhile, Instagram Reels has come up with an imitation of TikTok.

Microsoft could buy TikTok

If Trump bans TikTok in the United States or if it goes under Microsoft, TikTok will suffer severely in both cases. Moreover, there is no evidence that TikTok is smuggling data from American users to the Chinese government. On the contrary, many feel that it will undermine freedom of speech.

The bad news for China is that sanctions do not end there. In an executive order, Trump has called for a ban on WeChat as well as TikTok. WeChat is a messaging app under Chinese tech giant Tencent. Also, apps like Weibo, Ali Express, Zoom may be closed in the United States in the future. It means that technology is no longer global. Border walls are being built here too. It remains to be seen how China will respond.