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FILE – TikTok and WeChat smartphone app icons are seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, in a Friday, Aug. 7, 2020, file photo. The Commerce Department said the president’s proposed ban Trump of the WeChat and TikTok applications will take effect on Sunday, September 20 to “safeguard the national security of the United States.” The administration said its order, previously announced by Trump in August, “will combat the malicious collection of personal data of US citizens by China.” (AP Photo / Mark Schiefelbein, file)
United States – The US Department of Commerce said on Friday that it will ban Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat from US app stores on Sunday and will ban apps from accessing essential Internet services in the US. ., A measure that could ruin the operation of both Chinese services. for US users
TikTok won’t face the most drastic sanctions until after the November 3 election, but WeChat users could feel the effects on Sunday.
The order, which cited concerns for national security and data privacy, follows weeks of agreements on the TikTok video-sharing service. President Donald Trump has lobbied the Chinese owner of the app to sell TikTok’s US operations to a domestic company to satisfy US concerns about TikTok’s data collection and related issues.
California tech giant Oracle recently struck a deal with TikTok to that effect, though the details remain unclear and the administration is still reviewing it. Trump said on Friday that he was open to a deal, noting that “we have some great options and maybe we can keep a lot of people happy,” suggesting that even Microsoft, which said its TikTok offer had been rejected, could remain involved. , as well as Oracle and Walmart.
Trump noted that TikTok was “very, very popular,” saying that “we have to have total security from China” and added that “we can do a combination of both.”
The new order puts pressure on TikTok owner ByteDance to make more concessions, said James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Trump had said this week that he doesn’t like the idea of ByteDance retaining majority control of TikTok.
TikTok expressed “disappointment” at the move, saying it would continue to challenge President Donald Trump’s “unfair executive order.” The Commerce Department is enacting an order announced by President Donald Trump in August. TikTok sued to stop that ban.
WeChat owner Tencent said in an emailed statement that it will continue to discuss ways to address the concerns with the government and seek long-term solutions.
Google and Apple, the owners of the major mobile app stores, did not immediately respond to questions. Oracle also did not respond.
“Under the leadership of the President, we have taken significant steps to combat China’s malicious collection of personal data of US citizens, while promoting our national values, rule-based democratic norms, and aggressive enforcement of US laws and regulations.” said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. in a prepared statement.
The move is the Trump administration’s latest attempt to counter the influence of 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 companies such as Huawei, a maker of telecommunications and telecommunications equipment.
Meanwhile, Chinese-backed hackers have been accused of data breaches of US federal databases and Equifax credit bureau, and the Chinese government strictly limits what US tech companies they can do in China.
The order requires WeChat, which has millions of American users who rely on the app to stay in touch and do business with people and companies in China, to terminate business transaction payments through its service as of Sunday and prohibits you from obtaining vital technical services. from suppliers. The Justice Department said in a filing that it would not target users with criminal or civil penalties for posting messages on the app.
WeChat users have filed a lawsuit to stop the ban, and a federal judge in California set an emergency hearing for Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time on Friday.
Similar technical limitations for TikTok don’t go into effect until November 12, shortly after the US election. Ross said early Friday on Fox Business Network that access to that app could be possible if certain safeguards are in place. TikTok says it has 100 million users in the US and 700 million worldwide.
Nicholas Weaver, a professor of computer science at UC Berkeley, said the actions that went into effect Sunday are shortsighted and suggest that “America should not be trusted and it is not a business-friendly place.” Users, meanwhile, face a security “nightmare” because they won’t be able to get application updates that fix bugs and security vulnerabilities, he said.
The technical measures are “enforceable, the question is whether they are legal,” said Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, comparing them to a US version of China’s “Great Firewall”, which censors its national Internet. He said there could be a challenge to the First Amendment.
Like most social networks, TikTok collects user data and moderates user posts. Capture user locations and messages and track what they see to discover the best way to target your ads.
Similar concerns apply to US-based social networks like Facebook and Twitter, but Chinese ownership adds an additional wrinkle because the Chinese government could demand cooperation from Chinese companies. However, the administration has not provided specific evidence that TikTok made US user data available to the Chinese government. Some cybersecurity experts question whether the administration’s efforts are more political than rooted in legitimate concerns about Chinese threats to data security.
“If there are direct threats to national security, that information should be shared with the people of the United States,” said David Kennedy, chief executive of cybersecurity firm TrustedSec, before the Commerce Department regulations were announced. “We are not talking about what needs to happen in terms of policies, we are trying to hack this together to harm China.”
TikTok says that it does not store US user data in China and that it will not provide user data to the government, and does not censor videos based on China’s dictates.
JPV
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